(MENAFN) Beijing has signaled that it will not back down in response to Washington’s latest tariff threats, urging the United States to pursue negotiations instead of escalating tensions further.

The warning came in an official statement from China’s Ministry of Commerce on Sunday, following US President Donald Trump’s plan to impose a 100% tariff on Chinese imports. The move comes in response to Beijing’s new restrictions on rare earth exports, materials essential for products ranging from smartphones to fighter jets.

“China’s position on the trade war is consistent: we do not want it, but we are not afraid of it,” the ministry said.

The renewed tensions threaten to overshadow a potential meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, expected to occur on the sidelines of the APEC summit in South Korea in late October or early November. The meeting had been seen as a chance to restart dialogue between the world’s two largest economies.

Trump has spent much of the year raising import duties to extract concessions from trading partners, but China has resisted, leveraging its economic influence to counter US pressure.

“Willful threats of high tariffs are not the right way to get along with China,” the Commerce Ministry added. “If the US insists on going the wrong way, China will surely take resolute measures to protect its legitimate rights and interests.”

Both nations have accused each other of violating the trade ceasefire by imposing new restrictions. Trump has described China as “becoming very hostile” and claimed that Beijing is “holding the world captive” by restricting access to rare earths.

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