China urges sincerity from US in trade talks

China on Tuesday urged the United States to "correct its wrong practices and show sincerity" to preserve the hard-won results of previous trade talks and work with China in the same direction, a day after working-level talks were held between Beijing and Washington.

In another development, China added five US affiliates of South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean to its anti-foreign sanctions list on Tuesday, cutting them off from business and cooperation with Chinese entities.

Analysts said that Beijing's swift responses demonstrate strategic precision — a calibrated yet measured approach that shows its readiness to defend its interests while leaving the door open for negotiations with Washington.

Reacting to US claims that China had postponed a suggested phone call to discuss recent rare earth export controls and a US suggestion that the two sides find a way to restore stable situations, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce said: "China's position has been consistent and clear. We will fight to the end if forced to, but our door remains open for talks."

The spokesperson reiterated that the export control measures were legitimate practices of the Chinese government aimed at improving its own export control system in accordance with laws and regulations, adding that China's export control move does not mean a ban on exports and that applications in compliance with regulations will, as always, be granted approval.

China had notified the US side ahead of the announcement of relevant export control measures, the spokesperson said, noting that the two sides have maintained communication and had held working-level talks as recently as Monday.

However, the spokesperson stressed that it is the US that has "long overstretched the concept of national security, abused export controls, and adopted discriminatory practices targeting China".

"Especially since the China-US trade talks in Madrid, the US has continued to introduce a series of new restrictive measures against China, seriously harming China's interests and severely disrupting the atmosphere of the bilateral trade negotiations," the spokesperson said.

From Tuesday, the US began imposing additional port fees on Chinese-built and Chinese-operated ships. In response, China started charging US ships for docking at Chinese ports.

China also sanctioned five of South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean's US subsidiaries, which have assisted and supported the US government's probes and measures against Chinese maritime, logistics and shipbuilding sectors, according to a statement from the Ministry of Commerce.

In a separate statement on Tuesday, the Ministry of Transport said it had launched an investigation into the impact of Washington's Section 301 probe on Chinese shipping and shipbuilding industries.

According to Wang Wen, dean of Renmin University of China's Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, China's preparedness is not passive. Instead, it has evolved into a multi-pronged strategy, moving from reactive measures to proactively leveraging its strengths while building economic resilience.

Earlier on Friday, the Donald Trump administration threatened to impose an additional 100 percent tariffs on China-made goods, starting Nov 1.

In addition, the US would slap controls on export of "any and all critical software" to China.

Earlier this year, the White House restricted shipments of chip design and simulation tools to China.

Chen Wenling, former chief economist at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, said: "History and reality have repeatedly proven that the tactics of tariff threats and extortion may force some countries to yield temporarily, but they are doomed to fail against a resilient and sizable power like China."

Instead, these maneuvers often backfire, turning into embarrassing situations where the perpetrators end up shooting themselves in the foot, Chen added.

US consumers will likely shoulder 55 percent of tariff costs by the end of the year, with US companies taking on 22 percent, analysts of Goldman Sachs wrote in an Oct 12 research note.

Cui Fan, a professor of international trade at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, said that China's countermeasures have followed a pattern starkly different from Washington's pendulum-like policy shifts.

Cui said each countermeasure has been deliberately calibrated, targeting specific sectors where leverage exists while avoiding broader economic confrontation.

It demonstrates China's firmness in protecting core interests, while signifying its willingness to maintain constructive dialogue and cooperation with the US, even in the face of ongoing challenges, Cui added.

"Seeking mutually-beneficial cooperation and establishing a new equilibrium, rather than unilateral concessions, is the inevitable path for China and the US to coexist," Cui said.