Chinese officials on Monday criticized the Trump administration\u2019s approach to negotiating tariff policy and accused the U.S. of bullying other nations.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey make up bargaining chips out of thin air, bully and go back on their words,\u201d said Zhao Chenxin, deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission, China\u2019s main economic planning agency.<\/p>\n
That approach, Zhao continued, \u201cmakes everyone see one thing more and more clearly, that is the so-called \u2018reciprocal tariffs\u2019 severely go against historical trends and economic laws, impact international trade rules and order and seriously impair the legitimate rights and interests of countries.\u201d<\/p>\n
The remarks came at a briefing Monday by several senior Chinese officials across numerous government agencies.<\/p>\n
The officials sought to reassure the public of the nation’s ability to weather any potential economic fallout from President Trump\u2019s tariffs of 145 percent on Chinese imports.<\/p>\n
The government said it would increase support for companies to help keep workers employed and would take steps to encourage entrepreneurship among unemployed individuals, according to Yu Jiadong, a vice minister of Human Resources and Social Security.<\/p>\n
The People\u2019s Bank of China will also cut interest rates and relax reserve requirements as needed to encourage lending, Zou Lan, a deputy governor of the bank, said Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cIncremental policies will be introduced in a timely manner to help stabilize employment, enterprises, markets, and expectations,\u201d Zou said.<\/p>\n
Zhao said China has been gradually decreasing food and grain imports from the U.S. and that stopping those purchases would not have a noticeable effect on the country\u2019s food supply. Zhao similarly said China can make do without U.S. energy imports.<\/p>\n
\u201cEnterprises reducing or even stopping energy imports from the United States will have no impact on our country\u2019s energy supply,\u201d Zhao said.<\/p>\n
It remains unclear whether Trump has spoken to Chinese President Xi Jinping about tariffs. Trump has said he has spoken to Xi \u201cmany times,\u201d but China has denied that any negotiations on tariffs have begun.<\/p>\n