US-China trade war escalates: Now, China issues fresh US goods list for tariff hike

The trade war between China and US seems endless. On Wednesday, April 4, Beijing issued a list of US goods worth $50 billion to impose tariff hikes after Washington unveiled a list of 1,300 Chinese export goods for imposing tariffs with an aim to penalise China for alleged theft of technologies, patents and secrets.

The US unveiled its latest tariff list after China targeted 128 US goods last week in retaliation to the US administration's imposing a steep tariff on steel and aluminium imports.

Experts viewed this escalation as a potentially damaging technology dispute between Beijing and Washington. The latest Chinese list includes soybeans and small aircraft.

China, however, did not give an exact date for executing the 25 per cent hike and said it would see how President Donald Trump goes about with his plans to raise the duties on Chinese goods worth similar values.

Beijing's list includes some of the biggest American exports to China which shows the seriousness with which China views the USA's allegations that it puts pressure on foreign firms to hand over their technological expertise.

Trump tweeted after China's announcement of its latest tariffs, Trump said the US was in no trade war with the Chinese as the former had lost that war because of "incompetent or foolish people who represented the US".

The US on Tuesday, April 3, issued a list of products included aerospace, machinery and telecoms for tariff hikes to hurt China's economic ambitions. The latter said it would challenge the USA's decision at the World Trade Organisation.

China's vice finance minister Zhu Guangyao urged the US to do things constructively and avoid action that could hurt both the countries.

US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross allayed fears that escalation of this trade war could impact the world economy saying the entire thing affected a very little of both countries' economies. He said the bigger worry was protecting the USA's intellectual property, AP reported.

In an interview to CNBC, Ross supported Trump's concern over the USA's trade deficit with China, saying he would take the US out of the problem where many past presidents led it into.