Beijing, China - China on Thursday condemned President Donald Trump's "liberation day" tariff regime, and vowed to enact firm "countermeasures" to safeguard its intersts.

Beijing's Ministry of Commerce said in a statement that Trump's tariffs "do not comply with international trade rules and seriously harm the legitimate rights and interests of the relevant parties."

It urged Washington to "immediately cancel" the tariffs, warning that a trade war will "endanger global economic development," hurting US interests and damaging global supply chains.

The comments come after Trump took to the stage for what he called "Liberation Day" and announced a 10% baseline tariff on all countries, as well as a 34% levy on all imports from China.

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These sit on top of an already steep rate that was boosted to 20% in March. In response, Beijing had introduced levies of up to 15% on a range of US agricultural goods including soybeans, pork, and chicken.

While Trump claimed that Wednesday's tariffs announcement, which also included 20% on the European Union and 24% on Japan, were "reciprocal," experts report that his estimates are wildly exaggerated.

"The US claims to have suffered losses in international trade, using so-called 'reciprocity' as an excuse to raise tariffs on all trade partners," Beijing said.

"This approach disregards the balance of interests achieved through years of multilateral trade negotiations and ignores the fact that the US has long profited significantly from international trade."

Beijing has repeatedly called for an increase in positive "dialogue" and "win-win" cooperation over recent months, and is rumored to be in talks with the EU to develop a joint response to Trump's trade war.

"There is no winner in a trade war, and there is no way out for protectionism. History has proven that raising tariffs does not solve the US's own problems."