(ECNS) -- China has expressed strong opposition to U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to impose hefty tariffs on steel and aluminum imports and has vowed to take effective measures against it.
Trump said steel products will face a 25 percent tariff and aluminum goods 10 percent.
Wang Hejun, head of the Trade Remedy and Investigation Bureau at the Ministry of Commerce, said China is strongly against the protectionist measures under the name of national security.
China will take firm measures to protect its legitimate rights and interests based on the evaluation of losses caused by the U.S. tariff policy.
Wang also said the U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports will seriously undermine multilateral trading systems and affect normal international trade order.
Many WTO members, including the EU, Brazil, South Korea, Australia, Turkey and Russia have expressed objection to the U.S. move and plan to take countermeasures, according to Wang.
China has urged the U.S. to respect the international trading system and withdraw the measures in a timely manner.
The China Iron and Steel Association said the U.S. is pushing forward protectionist measures, violating WTO rules and disrupting the order of international trade.
"This act is harmful to the global steel industry and also seriously damaging to the interests of steel consumers, especially those in the United States," a spokesperson for the association said.
