China's commerce ministry on Monday strongly condemned the United States' new tariffs on Chinese goods over alleged forced labour, calling them unjustified and amounting to protectionism. According to reports from Reuters, the ministry accused Washington of long manipulating the issue of forced labour and described the new tariffs as a typical act of unilateralism and protectionism. China has firmly opposed the measures and urged the US to remove them, while signalling willingness to continue dialogue 'based on mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit' to address concerns. The ministry emphasized that 'This time, it (Washington) has again initiated a Section 301 investigation and imposed unilateral tariffs on the grounds of 'forced labour,' which is a typical act of unilateralism and protectionism, and China firmly opposes it'. As per Reuters, the ministry stated that 'China urges the U.S. to correct its erroneous practices and completely remove the relevant unilateral tariff measures'. The ministry's stance was reinforced on Monday, July 27, 2026, with Beijing calling the levies 'unilateral' and 'protective' and warning of possible countermeasures.
On Friday, the United States imposed new tariffs of 10 per cent and 12.5 per cent on goods from 60 trading partners, including the EU and China, alleging those countries failed to curb imports made by forced labour. As reported by Reuters, China was assigned a 12.5 per cent rate. The ministry noted that Washington had pledged during trade talks that replacement tariffs on Chinese goods would not exceed 20 per cent, and the new 12.5 per cent tariff imposed under the forced-labour probe remained within that limit. The new US duties could risk undermining a fragile trade truce reached between the world's two largest economies last year and came as the two sides prepare for a possible visit to the U.S. by Chinese President Xi Jinping in September.
The commerce ministry emphasized that China has consistently opposed forced labour and has established a comprehensive system of labour laws and regulations to prevent and combat such practices. According to Reuters, the ministry contrasted this with the US having not only failed to ratify the 1930 Forced Labour Convention, but has also long manipulated the issue of 'forced labour'. China reserved the right to take all necessary measures as it assessed further US actions, while expressing hope that the US would work with China to uphold trade consultation consensus and continuously reduce problem lists. 'China urges the U.S. to correct its erroneous practices and completely remove the relevant unilateral tariff measures,' the ministry stated. 'It is hoped the US will work with China to uphold and implement the consensus reached in the trade consultations, continuously reduce the problem list and lengthen the cooperation list,' the ministry added.
Separately, China's commerce ministry accused the United States of 'AI hegemonism' and threatened countermeasures after senior US officials said Chinese AI companies could face investigations, sanctions and trade restrictions over alleged theft of US technology. According to Business Standard, the ministry said Washington was threatening Chinese companies with punishment based on allegations they used 'distillation' to copy advanced US AI models, despite what it called a lack of factual or legal grounds. 'For any action that causes substantive harm to Chinese interests, China will take all necessary measures to firmly safeguard its legitimate rights and interests,' a ministry spokesperson said. The controversy centers on Beijing-based Moonshot AI, whose recently released Kimi K3 model has drawn attention for its coding capabilities and intensified debate in Washington over whether Chinese developers are copying US models. 'It is understood that many American artificial intelligence enterprises have distilled Chinese models during their research, development and training processes,' the Chinese commerce ministry stated, defending the use of distillation as a widely used technique across industries.
