US provoking disputes is economic terrorism, says China

China is digging in for a tough period of deteriorating ties with the United States owing to the trade war between the two. Pic/AFP

Beijing: In a major escalation of the bruising US-China trade war, Beijing on Thursday accused the US of following "naked economic terrorism" and threatened to the stop export of rare-earth metals, a key resource for Apple's iPhones and hi-tech missile guidance systems to America.

The two economies are engaged in a trade war after talks to resolve the issue between them apparently failed, with US President Donald Trump putting a ban on Huawei, China's telecom equipment manufacturer, and threatening to slap additional tariffs on the remaining $300 billion worth of Chinese exports.

In the sharpest attack yet on the US, since the beginning of the trade war China's vice foreign minister Zhang Hanhui accused Washington of indulging in "naked economic terrorism".

"We are against the trade war, but we are not afraid of it," Zhang said. "This premeditated instigation of a trade conflict is naked economic terrorism, economic chauvinism, and economic bullying," he said Both the US and China have already imposed tariffs on billions of dollars of export products sparking fears that the conflict between them could damage the global economy.

Trump, who kicked off the trade war last year, demanded China to reduce the massive trade deficit which has climbed to over $539 billion last year. He insisted Beijing for verifiable measures for protection of intellectual property rights (IPR), technology transfer and more access to American goods. The US has imposed a tariff on $200 billion Chinese products while Beijing increased tariff on $60 billion US products, to take effect on Saturday.

23%
Percentage of rare-earths China exports

$160mn
Value of rare-earths US imported last year

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