News from the Ministry of Commerce website: On the afternoon of October 16, He Yongqian, spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce, hosted a regular press conference in Beijing.
Bloomberg reporter: Bloomberg stated that in comments made this week in Washington D.C., U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen mentioned that Chinese Deputy Minister of Commerce Li Chenggang made some "inciting" remarks on August 28 and appeared in Washington D.C. without being invited, and behaved disrespectfully. Yellen also said that Li Chenggang had said, "If port transportation costs are passed through, China will cause global chaos." What is your comment on this? Will Deputy Minister Li Chenggang respond to this comment?
He Yongqian: The remarks by the U.S. side seriously distort the facts. On August 27-29 local time, Li Chenggang, Director of the Office of the Commissioner of Foreign Trade and Deputy Minister of Commerce, went to the United States to exchange views with the U.S. side on implementing the consensus of the call between the leaders of the two countries, and on Sino-U.S. economic and trade relations, implementation of the consensus of the Sino-U.S. economic and trade talks, and other issues, and raised objections to the U.S. measures restricting the shipbuilding industry and other sectors under the Section 301 investigation.
In recent times, according to the consensus of the call between the leaders of the two countries and the Sino-U.S. economic and trade talks, China has been actively communicating with the U.S. side on the Section 301 investigation restrictions, adopting a constructive attitude, and proposing relevant cooperation suggestions. However, the U.S. side has taken a negative stance and insisted on implementing the restrictive measures, so China was forced to take countermeasures, including collecting special port fees for ships related to the U.S. according to law and regulations.
The U.S. Section 301 investigation and restrictive measures against the Chinese shipbuilding industry are typical examples of unilateralism and protectionism, which severely damage the interests of the Chinese relevant industries and will also increase inflation in the U.S., harm the competitiveness of U.S. ports and employment. I would like to emphasize that the implementation of the U.S. measures indeed affects the stability of the global supply chain and causes chaos in the global shipping industry. The countermeasures taken by China are passive defensive actions, which are necessary steps to maintain a fair competitive environment in the international shipping and shipbuilding markets.
China hopes that the U.S. side can recognize its erroneous actions and move towards dialogue and consultation with China, returning to the correct track of communication and negotiation. Thank you.
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