China opposes US over import ban

China firmly opposes the latest US bans on new imports of foreign-produced power inverters and advanced robotic devices, and urges Washington to revoke the measures immediately, the Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday.

The move harms others without benefiting the United States itself and constitutes "a typical act of market distortion and unilateral bullying", a spokesperson for the ministry said.

The comments came after the US Federal Communications Commission added the two product categories to its "Covered List" on Tuesday, a move that bars relevant new models from obtaining FCC equipment authorization and entering the US market.

Under the guise of "non-discrimination", the measures in fact discriminate against and suppress Chinese companies and products, the spokesperson said.

This is not the first time the FCC has taken such action, as it has previously imposed restrictions on other Chinese products, the spokesperson added.

Despite repeated serious representations from Beijing and the restraint it has exercised, the FCC has continued to introduce and escalate restrictive measures, seriously harming China's legitimate trade interests, undermining the stability of China-US economic and trade relations, and destabilizing global industrial and supply chains, the spokesperson said.

Robots and power inverters are ordinary goods traded internationally, and all parties, including the US, benefit from trade in such products, the spokesperson added.

By overstretching the concept of national security, disregarding strong appeals from industries in both countries and using administrative power to interfere with normal commercial transactions and trade, the US is continuing to pursue "decoupling" and the severing of industrial and supply chains, the spokesperson said.

China urges the US to immediately revoke the measures and stop its wrongful practices, the spokesperson said.

"If the US insists on going its own way, China will take resolute countermeasures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests," the spokesperson added.