'Tariffs could trigger humanitarian crisis': China warns WTO over US trade measures

China’s Commerce Minister Wang Wentao warned that US tariff measures could “inflict serious harm” on developing nations and risk triggering a humanitarian crisis, according to a statement released by the Chinese commerce ministry on Saturday.

“These US ‘reciprocal tariffs’ will inflict serious harm on developing countries, especially the least developed countries, and could even trigger a humanitarian crisis,” Wang told World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala during a call. He accused the United States of causing “enormous uncertainty and instability” globally and claimed the tariff moves had also led to “chaos” within the US.

The warning comes amid a dramatic escalation in the trade conflict between the world’s two largest economies. On Friday, Beijing announced it would implement 125 percent tariffs on US goods starting Saturday, closely mirroring Washington’s own 145 percent levies on Chinese imports.

Despite the tit-for-tat escalation, China signaled it may not retaliate further, arguing that US imports have become economically unviable. It also confirmed plans to file a complaint with the WTO over the latest US measures.

In a strongly worded statement, Chinese officials mocked the Trump administration’s approach as “a joke” and “a numbers game,” dismissing the aggressive tariff strategy as brinkmanship.

The developments triggered another wave of market turbulence, with global stock markets swinging sharply, gold prices soaring, and US Treasury yields facing renewed pressure.