Beijing threatens to retaliate, says talks not possible

China stands ready to retaliate to any new measures from Washington on trade, a spokesman for Beijing said on Friday, adding that finance officials from his country and the US had not held trade talks recently.

According to Bloomberg, Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman Gao Feng also said China would retaliate "immediately, intensively and without any hesitation" if the US released a list with an additional $100bn-worth of Chinese goods that it was looking to place tariffs on.

Friday's press conference was both short and somewhat unexpected, due to Beijing's standard practice of not holding media briefings on public holidays.

Feng also framed the debate in terms of a "battle" between protectionism and free trade, saying that Washington had misjudged the situation.

In the current climate it was not possible to hold talks, Gao said.