China warns US tariff war 'huge risk' to world economy

Trump said in the interview, which aired on Sunday, that China’s economy was “collapsing”.

Asked if he would drop tariffs to get China to the negotiating table, he said: “Why would I do that?”

Beijing has repeatedly pledged to fight a trade war “to the end” if needed, with a video posted by its foreign ministry on social media last week vowing it would “never kneel down”.

“If it’s fight, we will fight to the end; if it’s talk, the door is wide open. The tariff war and trade war were unilaterally initiated by the US side,” the commerce ministry said on Friday.

Both economies have been hit as the tariffs shook markets and roiled supply chains.

China’s factory activity shrank in April, with Beijing blaming a “sharp shift” in the global economy.

Data showed last Wednesday that the US economy contracted in the first three months of the year as Trump’s tariff plans triggered an import surge.