“Such U.S. practices will drag the world economy into a "cold war trap," the commerce ministry said.

China's Ministry of Commerce released a rebuttal to the United States' accusations against China, saying that they have “fabricated” a story in order to suppress China's development.

“The slander of the United States against China about gaining extra advantage through unfair trade proactive is a distortion of facts and is groundless,” the statement said. “For the purpose of meeting its political need at home and containing China, the U.S. side fabricated a whole set of policy logic that distorted the truth of China-U.S. economic and trade relations.”

The ministry says that problems with the United States' economy and society are caused by “domestic structural reasons within the United States.”

“The success of the Chinese economy has never been due to practicing mercantilism outside of China, or through practicing so-called state capitalism,” the Ministry says. “Rather it is a success of the commitment to market-oriented reform and continuous opening up.”

The Chinese ministry says that the “irony” of the whole ordeal is that many of the practices the United States accuses China of doing are done by the United States.

China criticizes the United States' unilateral actions in various international organizations, such as the United Nations and the World Trade Organization.

“When the United States willfully exits from groups based on its own interests under the pretext of "American First", it becomes an enemy to all,” the statement reads.

“Such U.S. practices will drag the world economy into a "cold war trap”... seriously worsening the global economic and trade environment, destroying the global industrial chain and value chain, hindering global economy recovery, triggering global market fluctuations and hurting the interests of numerous multinationals and average customers in the world.”

China's state newspaper, the Global Times, wrote in an editorial that Thursday's statement likely indicates that China has a specific plan and could be ready to announce countermeasures. The statement, according to the Global Times, is “a clear sign that China would not back down and is ready to defend its core interests.”

Following the first round of tariffs on US$ 34 billion worth of goods, the Trump administration recently announced an additional round of tariffs amounting to US$ 200 billion.