Beijing — China will "absolutely not" fire the first shot in a trade war with the US and will not be the first to levy tariffs, its finance ministry said on Wednesday. A source said China’s threatened tariffs on $34bn of US goods would take effect from the beginning of the day on Friday. Given the 12-hour time difference, that would have put its implementation ahead of Washington’s. Other media carried similar reports. But the ministry issued a brief clarification in response. "The Chinese government’s position has been stated many times. We absolutely will not fire the first shot, and will not implement tariff measures ahead of the US doing so," it said. Washington has said it would implement tariffs on $34bn of Chinese imports on July 6, and Beijing has vowed to retaliate in kind on the same day. Earlier, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said China was ready to act, though he did not confirm the start date for Chinese tariffs. "China has already made preparations," Lu sa...
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