WASHINGTON, April 3 (Xinhua) -- China strongly condemns andfirmly opposes new tariffs to be imposed by the United States on alist of Chinese products, the Chinese Embassy in the United Statessaid here Tuesday.
"The Chinese side strongly condemns and firmly opposes theunfounded Section 301 investigation and the proposed list ofproducts and tariff increases based on the investigation," theembassy said in a statement, shortly after Washington unveiled thelist, which will affect Chinese imports worth 50 billion U.S.dollars.
The list was authorized by the U.S. Trade Representative's(USTR) office, which in August 2017 initiated an investigationunder the Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 to probe allegedChinese intellectual property and technology transferpractices.
According to the list, the products included industries such asaerospace, information and communication technology, robotics andmachinery.
China has repeatedly said that Section 301 investigation is aunilateral move that violates World Trade Organization (WTO)rules.
"Such unilateralistic and protectionist action has gravelyviolated fundamental principles and values of the WTO. It servesneither China's interest, nor U.S. interest, even less, theinterest of the global economy," the Chinese embassy said in itsstatement.
It added that Beijing will resort to the WTO dispute settlementmechanism and take the corresponding measures of equal scale andstrength against U.S. products in accordance with Chinese law.
"We hope that the U.S. side, with sense and long-term picture inmind, refrain from going further down the 'wrong path'," itsaid.
On Tuesday, the USTR unveiled the list under Trump's tariffproclamation signed on March 22. From that date on, there will be60 days until the import barriers actually take effect. Enditem