Beijing accused Washington of having abused its trust by taking unpredictable steps on trade issues, AP reported.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying condemns the U.S. decision to renew a threat to raise duties on a $50 billion list of Chinese goods.

“We do not want a trade war, but we are not afraid of one. We will fight back,” she said adding: “We will definitely take forceful measures to defend our legitimate interests.”