China condemns US over new Section 301 tariffs – but holds off on retaliation

China’s Ministry of Commerce has objected to Washington’s latest tariff on the country’s goods but signalled it will hold off on retaliation for now, noting the 12.5 per cent duty keeps the United States within the ceiling that the Trump administration promised in earlier talks. Washington was manipulating the issue of forced labour, the ministry said in a statement on Monday, calling the Section 301 investigation and the subsequent tariffs “a textbook act of unilateralism and protectionism”. It