China seeks Asian neighbors' support in trade fight with US
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FILE - In this Saturday, April 27, 2019, file photo, Chinese President Xi Jinping waves as he leaves after a news conference on the outskirts of Beijing. Fuming over Washington’s latest tariff hike in an escalating trade battle, Beijing has an array of options for retaliating, from limiting exports of rare earths to disrupting operations of Apple and other American companies in China. But they carry economic and political costs. And there is no guarantee they will work. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
China is seeking support from some of its Asian neighbors and Russia in its escalating tariff fight with the U.S.
Speaking Wednesday at a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Kyrgyzstan, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said representatives of the eight-nation grouping had expressed "broad support" for China's position.
Wang reiterated China's stance that it would never accept unequal trading arrangements. He said Beijing will match "extreme pressure" from the U.S. with its own measures.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Beijing has already responded to Trump's tariff hikes on $250 billion of Chinese imports by slapping penalties on $110 billion of American goods. Based on last year's trade, that leaves about $45 billion in imports from the U.S.
That includes semiconductors and other critical inputs needed by fledgling Chinese tech industries.