*

China urges consultation with Washington on equal footing

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Chinese commerce groups aim to seek new markets, warn of

US

inflation

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Global stock markets fell sharply for the week

(Updates with Hong Kong official comments, paragraph 3 and

final three paragraphs)

By Antoni Slodkowski

BEIJING, April 5 (Reuters) - China said on Saturday "the

market has spoken" in rejecting U.S. President Donald Trump's

tariffs, and called on Washington for "equal-footed

consultation" after global markets plunged in reaction to the

trade levies that drew Chinese retaliation.

Several Chinese commerce associations in industries from

healthcare and textiles to electronics also issued statements on

Saturday calling for unity in exploring alternative markets and

saying the tariffs would worsen inflation in the United States.

Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan told public

broadcaster RTHK, however, Hong Kong would not impose separate

countermeasures, citing the need for the city to remain "free

and open".

"The market has spoken," Chinese foreign ministry

spokesperson Guo Jiakun said in a post on Facebook on Saturday.

He also posted a picture capturing Friday's falls on U.S.

markets.

Trump introduced additional 34% tariffs on Chinese goods as

part of steep levies imposed on most U.S. trade partners,

bringing the total duties on China this year to 54%.

Trump also closed a trade loophole that had allowed

low-value packages from China to enter the U.S. duty-free.

This prompted retaliation from China on Friday, including

extra levies of 34% on all U.S. goods and export curbs on some

rare earths, escalating the trade war between the world's two

largest economies.

Global stock markets plummeted following China's retaliation

and Trump's comments on Friday that he would not change course,

extending sharp losses that followed Trump's initial tariff

announcement earlier in the week and marking the biggest losses

since the pandemic. For the week, the S&P 500 was down 9%.

"Now is the time for the U.S. to stop doing the wrong things

and resolve the differences with trading partners through

equal-footed consultation," Guo wrote in English.

China's chamber of commerce, representing traders in food

products, called on "China's food and agricultural products

import and export industry to unite and strengthen cooperation

to jointly explore domestic and foreign markets".

Hong Kong's Chan said it strongly opposes Trump's actions

and would persist in being "free and open".

"Allowing a free flow of capital and acting as a free port

are our advantages, and this will not change," Chan told public

broadcaster RTHK.

"The rules-based multilateral trading system is our core,"

he said.