China hits back at Trump with retaliatory tariffs on 128 US imports, worth US$3 billion a year

China on Monday imposed tariffs of up to 25 per cent on 128 US imports worth US$3 billion a year, including fruits and pork, in retaliation to US duties on steel and aluminium, fuelling fears of a trade war.

Beijing’s move, which the Xinhua news agency said was decided by the custom tariffs commission of the State Council, follows weeks of heated rhetoric and threats between the world’s two biggest economies.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly railed against China’s massive trade surplus over the United States, promising during the US election campaign to slash the US deficit.

China’s Ministry of Commerce said it was suspending its obligations to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to reduce tariffs on 120 US goods, including fruit. The tariff on the products will be raised to 15 per cent.

Another eight products, including pork, will now be subject to tariffs of 25 per cent, it said, with the measures effective from April 2.

Beijing had warned last month that it was considering the tariffs of 15 per cent and 25 per cent on a range of products that also include wine, nuts and aluminium scrap. The tariffs came into force on Monday, Xinhua said, citing a finance ministry statement.