China’s retaliatory tariffs on US$60 billion of US goods kick in, fanning fears of extended trade war
- Levies cover a total of 5,140 US products, including liquefied natural gas as well as petrochemical and food goods
- Beijing earlier announced it will blacklist ‘unreliable’ foreign entities and hinted at restricting supply of rare earth minerals to the US
China on Saturday raised tariffs to a maximum 25 per cent on US$60 billion worth of US products in retaliation for Washington’s latest tax increase on Chinese goods, fanning fears that the trade war between the world’s two biggest economies will not end soon.
US President Donald Trump has also tried to strike a better trade deal with Beijing by taking steps to stifle China’s technology sector, such as effectively banning American firms from supplying parts to Chinese telecommunication giant Huawei Technologies.
The Chinese leadership led by President Xi Jinping had indicated it would implement further retaliatory measures against Washington, depending on what Trump does. China has recently hinted at restricting its supply of rare earth minerals to the United States.
China’s Ministry of Commerce said on Friday that it will publish a list of “unreliable” foreign entities deemed to have damaged the interests of Chinese firms, with specific measures for those on the list to be revealed “in the near future”.
An escalation in economic and technology tensions between the world’s major powers has rattled financial markets across the globe, blurring the outlook for the world economy.
The tariffs, which came into effect on Saturday, cover a total of 5,140 US products including liquefied natural gas as well as petrochemical and food goods, whose tariff levels were lifted to up to 25 per cent from the current 10 per cent.