China hits back at Trump’s fresh tariffs, imposes duties on US goods worth $50 bn

China on Saturday, June 16, hit back at the US by imposing additional duties on American product worth $50 billion as a retaliatory measure against US President Donald Trump's decision to slap a steep 25 per cent tariff on Chinese goods worth the same price on Friday, June 15.

The fresh round of trade war between the world's two largest economies is set to rattle the global markets once again. On Friday, Trump accused China of engaging in intellectual property theft and unfair trade practices before implementing the tariff

"China has unveiled a list of products from the United States that will be subject to additional tariffs in response to US announcement to impose additional duties on Chinese imports," the country's state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

"Approved by the State Council, the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council has decided to impose additional duties of 25 percent on 659 items of US products worth about 50 billion US dollars."

"Additional tariffs for 545 items worth about 34 billion US dollars, including agricultural products, vehicles and aquatic products, will be effective from July 6, 2018, according to a statement of the commission," the report said.

It also said the date of implementation of additional tariffs on the remaining 14 items that cover chemical products, medical equipment and energy products will be announced later.

The commission lashed out at the US saying its move violated the rules of the World Trade Organisation and the consensus reached in bilateral economic and trade relations and undermined the Chinese people's interests.

High-level delegates from the US and China met each other recently to find a solution to the trade deadlock but it did not yield any results. Trump's latest decision to impose fresh tariffs comes in the wake of imposing high tariffs on steel and aluminium exports from countries like Canada, Mexico and the European Union, leading to serious differences with Washington's time-tested allies.