2019.05.1704:20:00UTC+00China State Economic Planner Says US Tariff Impact Controllable

China's top economic planning agency said on Friday that the impact from the trade tariffs imposed by the United States on Chinese exports is under control.

The National Development and Reform Commission said at a press conference that measures will be taken to ensure that economic growth remains in a "reasonable range". Data released earlier this week showed that industrial production and retail sales growth eased more-than-expected in April, suggesting weak economic activity at the start of second quarter.

The trade tensions between China and the US keep escalating. The Donald Trump administration raised tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods at the end of last week. This week, China retaliated by raising tariffs on $60 billion worth of imports from the US.

The US is also trying to prevent the use of technology from the Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies Co. in 5G mobile networks globally, citing security risks. The Trump administration added Huawei to a trade blacklist on Thursday, thus preventing the company and its nearly 70 affiliates in different countries, from buying equipment from US firms. On Thursday, China's foreign ministry spokesperson said the US needs to be more sincere for trade negotiations to be successful, the state-run news agency Xinhua reported. The same reaction was carried by stories and opinion pieces in the Chinese state media, and some went on to add that the Chinese side was not inclined to hold talks with the US now. China's exports fell unexpectedly in April, while imports rebounded. The trade surplus with the US grew to $21.01 billion in April from $20.5 billion in March. Imports from the US fell about 26 percent and exports decreased more than 13 percent.