The United States and China are set to fire the first shots in a trade war that experts fear will weaken the two giants' economies and slow global growth.
US punitive tariffs will be slapped on Chinese imports worth $34 billion, President Donald Trump confirmed on Thursday just hours before the measures take effect. China has prepared retaliatory duties of 25 percent on the same amount of US products.
"You have another 16 in two weeks, and then as you know we have 200 billion in abeyance and then after the 200 billion we have 300 billion in abeyance," Trump said on board of Air Force One en route to Montana on Thursday.
He was referring to a previous threat that if China retaliates, Washington will raise duties on an additional $200 billion worth of Chinese goods, which translates to roughly half of China's exports to the US.
Speaking at a weekly news conference, Commerce Ministry spokesman Gao Feng warned the proposed US tariffs would hit international supply chains, including foreign companies in the world's second-largest economy.
"If the US implements tariffs, they will actually be adding tariffs on companies from all countries, including Chinese and US companies," Gao said.
"US measures are essentially attacking global supply and value chains. To put it simply, the US is opening fire on the entire world, including itself. China will not bow down in the face of threats and blackmail and will not falter from its determination to defend free trade and the multilateral system."
Asked whether US companies would be targeted with "qualitative measures" in China in a trade war, Gao said the government would protect the legal rights of all foreign companies in