China said on Saturday that"the market has spoken" by rejecting US President Donald Trump's tariffs, and called on Washington to engage in"equal consultations" after global markets tumbled in response to the trade tariffs, which prompted a Chinese response.

The state-run Xinhua news agency also reported the Chinese government's position, which said the United States should"stop using tariffs as a weapon to hinder China's economy and trade."

"The market has spoken," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiaqun said in a Facebook post on Saturday.

He posted a photo showing the declines in US markets on Friday.

Trump imposed an additional 34 percent tariff on Chinese goods as part of the steep tariffs imposed on most of the United States' trading partners, bringing the total tariffs imposed on China this year to 54 percent.

Trump closed a trade loophole that allowed low-value packages from China to be exempt from customs duties.

This prompted a broad retaliation from China on Friday, including an additional 34 percent tariff on all US goods and restrictions on the export of some rare earths, escalating the trade war between the world's two largest economies.

Global stock markets tumbled sharply following China's retaliatory action and Trump's comments on Friday that he would not change course, extending the sharp losses that followed Trump's initial tariff announcement earlier last week, leading markets to suffer their biggest losses since the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a separate statement published by Xinhua, the Beijing government urged Washington to"stop using tariffs as a weapon to hinder China's economy and trade, and not undermine the legitimate development rights of the Chinese people."

The government added,"China has taken, and will continue to take, resolute measures to safeguard its sovereignty, security, and development interests."