KUALA LUMPUR (July 10): China has made it clear that it opposes any unjustified tariffs imposed by the US.

“We oppose unjustified tariffs,” its Foreign Minister Wang Yi, briefly told the media on Thursday when asked about the latest tariffs announced by Washington.

On Monday, US President Donald Trump imposed new tariffs ranging from 25% to 40% on 14 countries and issued an executive order that extended the date on which reciprocal tariffs would take effect to Aug 1.

On the same day, Trump announced on Truth Social that 25% tariffs would be imposed on imports from Japan and South Korea beginning Aug 1.

He later said that similar letters were sent to the leaders of 12 other countries — Malaysia, Kazakhstan, South Africa, Myanmar, Laos, Tunisia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Cambodia and Thailand — informing them that tariffs ranging from 25% to 40% would be applied starting next month.

Malaysia, Kazakhstan and Tunisia will face face a tariff rate of 25%; South Africa and BiH 30%; Indonesia 32%; Bangladesh and Serbia 35%; Cambodia and Thailand 36%; and Laos and Myanmar 40%.

Wang Yi, who is here for the 26th Asean Plus Three (APT) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, on the sidelines of the 58th Asean Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM), did not elaborate further.

However, it is worth noting that China had retaliated against US tariffs since April 2025, starting with a 34% tariff on April 2, which later surged to 145%.

The US and China eventually reached a deal, with Washington reducing the additional tariffs imposed on Bejing to 30% from 145%, while China lowered its tariffs on some US imports to 10% from 125%.

The 26th APT meeting was also attended by other APT foreign ministers, including Japan’s Takeshi Iwaya and Timor-Leste’s Bendito dos Santos Freitas, as well as South Korean First Vice-Foreign Minister Park Yoon Joo and Asean Secretary-General Dr Kao Kim Hourn.

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