BEIJING (Reuters) – China and the United States should approach trade issues on the basis of mutual respect, China’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday, after U.S. officials urged Beijing to take concrete measures to fulfill commitments under a trade deal.
No trade disputes are not in anyone’s interest, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters at a press conference.
Read also: Biden extends tariffs on solar panels
On Friday, US President Joe Biden decided to extend tariffs imposed under former President Donald Trump on imports of solar energy equipment for four years, but relaxed conditions to exclude the two-sided panels that generate power on both sides and are dominant among large US projects.
Former US President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on solar energy imports in 2018 using the authority under Section 201 of the 1974 Trade Act. The tariffs started at 30 percent, then dropped to 15 percent.
On Saturday, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce commented on this decision, saying that the US extension of tariffs on solar energy products distorts international trade and impedes the development of clean, low-emissions energy.
“The US government has insisted on extending the Article 201 measures despite the strong opposition of relevant parties at home and abroad, and these measures are not conducive to the robust development of the domestic industry in the United States and also distort the normal system of international trade in photovoltaics as a A new energy product.
China expressed the hope that the United States would take “concrete measures” to facilitate free trade in new energy products and “contribute to the global development of an economy that emits less greenhouse gases.”
China’s solar energy production capacity rose by a record 54.9 gigawatts last year to 306.6 gigawatts. China aims for total wind and solar capacity to reach 1,200 gigawatts by the end of the decade from 635 gigawatts at the end of last year.