BEIJING, March 10. /TASS/. The United States has damaged its economy with the trade war that Washington has declared against the whole world, said official representative of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Mao Ning.

"The essence of Sino-American trade and economic cooperation lies in mutual benefit and reciprocal cooperation," she said at a regular briefing.

"The United States is waging a trade war against the whole world, which has been going on for so many years. The United States’ trade deficit has not decreased, but has increased: last year it was still high and amounted to $918.4 billion."

She pointed to the unacceptability of interaction, where only one side benefits and the other "suffers." According to her, "no matter how the United States is trying to extricate themselves," they will not be able to hide the politicization of trade and economic issues that the American authorities "use as tools trying to restrain and suppress China."

"Tariff or trade wars begin with harming others and end with harming yourself. The United States should learn [from this] and change course," Mao Ning added.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had repeatedly said that China's economy was allegedly too reliant on exports. He said Washington is committed to "fair and equitable" trade with Beijing. Earlier, US President Donald Trump signed a decree increasing additional duties on Chinese imports from 10% to 20% because China is allegedly not taking enough measures to combat smuggling of synthetic opioid fentanyl into the United States.

According to China’s General Administration of Customs, trade turnover between the two states amounted to $102.06 billion in January-February, an increase of 2.4% year-on-year. Exports from China to the United States increased by 2.3% to $75.55 billion, while the flow of goods in the opposite direction increased by 2.7% to $26.51 billion.