China cannot hold talks with Washington on ending their trade dispute while the United States “holds a knife” to Beijing’s neck by imposing tariff hikes, a Chinese official said.
The warning came after the Chinese government released a report that accused President Donald Trump of bullying other countries.
It dampened hopes for progress toward a settlement of their war over Beijing’s technology policy.
Beijing retaliated by imposing penalties on $60 billion (£46 billion) of US products.
The conflict stems from US complaints that Beijing steals or pressures foreign companies to hand over technology.
American officials say Chinese plans for state-led development of global competitors in robotics and other technologies violate its market-opening obligations and might erode US industrial leadership.
Beijing is open to negotiations but whether they proceed is up to Washington, said a deputy commerce minister, Wang Shouwen.
Mr Wang led the Chinese delegation to the last round of talks in Washington in August, which ended without progress.
“Now that the United States has adopted such large-scale restrictive measures and holds a knife to another’s neck, how can negotiations proceed?” said Mr Wang at a news conference.
“It would not be negotiations of equality.”
Tariffs are the greatest! Either a country which has treated the United States unfairly on Trade negotiates a fair deal, or it gets hit with Tariffs. It’s as simple as that – and everybody’s talking! Remember, we are the “piggy bank” that’s being robbed. All will be Great!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 24, 2018
With no settlement in sight, forecasters say the conflict between the two biggest economies could trim global growth by 0.5 percentage points through 2020.
Business groups say American companies report Chinese regulators also are stepping up pressure on them by slowing down customs clearance and increasing environmental and other inspections.
In its report, the Chinese government tried to reinforce its position that it is defending free trade, despite complaints by the United States, Europe and other trading partners about market barriers and industrial policy.
It said Beijing has tried to protect the multilateral global trading system and accused President Trump of abandoning “mutual respect” required for international relations.
