Beijing, China - July 12, 2018 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesman Gao Feng at press briefing
2. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Gao Feng, spokesman, Chinese Ministry of Commerce:
"That's utterly a gangster's logic, and the thief is crying ‘Stop thief’! It’s the United States who violates the WTO rules in the first place and imposes tariffs unilaterally according to its domestic law. That’s a typical behavior of unilateralism and trade protectionism, which in itself is not based on any international law or any justified grounds. China has to take some necessary countermeasures so as to safeguard its national interests and its people’s interests and to preserve free trade and the multilateral trading system. And China has sued the US to the WTO. All these are totally in line with the international rules. It is the United States who tramples on the multilateral trading system. But it criticizes China over our forced and justified defense moves. I think it is self-evident for everyone to see who is right and who is wrong."

FILE: Iowa, USA - Nov 2017 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
3. Various of harvester operating in soybean field
4. Soybean field, soybean pods
5. Various of harvester offloading soybeans to truck

FILE: China - Exact Date and Location Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
6. Various of port, container ship

The United States accusation of China's countermeasure tariffs is a "gangster logic", said Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesman Gao Feng at a press briefing in Beijing on Thursday.

Gao was asked to comment on U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer’s claim that China's retaliatory tariffs on U.S. imports could not be justified.

"That's utterly a gangster's logic, and the thief is crying ‘Stop thief’! It’s the United States who violates the WTO rules in the first place and imposes tariffs unilaterally according to its domestic law. That's a typical behavior of unilateralism and trade protectionism, which in itself is not based on any international law or any justified grounds," said Gao.

He said China's move following the U.S. tariffs imposed on Chinese products was completely lawful.

"China has to take some necessary countermeasures so as to safeguard its national interests and its people’s interests and to preserve free trade and the multilateral trading system. And China has sued the US to the WTO. All these are totally in line with the international rules,” he said.

The spokesman stressed China’s justification in taking self-defense measures.

"It is the United States who tramples on the multilateral trading system. But it criticizes China over our forced and justified defense moves. I think it is self-evident for everyone to see who is right and who is wrong," said Gao.

The ministry said Wednesday that the latest U.S. announcement of planning to impose more tariffs on Chinese products worth around 200 billion U.S. dollars was "absolutely unacceptable", and the ministry vowed to fight back.

The Customs Tariff Commission of China’s State Council announced earlier that its additional tariffs on 34 billion U.S. dollars of imports from the United States took effect immediately after the United States additional duties on Chinese goods of the same value came into effect on July 6.