China hits back at Donald Trump with its own tariffs as tit-for-tat trade war heats up
China has hit back at Donald Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on $50bn (£37bn) worth of its goods by responding in kind as the tit-for-tat trade war heats up.
The US president yesterday unveiled the 25 per cent tariffs, designed to combat what he says is China’s theft of America’s intellectual property. The US says it wants to stop the transfer of its products and designs over to Chinese companies.
China’s finance ministry said it would respond with tariffs “of the same scale and strength”. Its own 25 per cent tariffs would cover 659 US products including soybeans, cars and seafood.
The value of the goods has matched the US at $50bn, but the list of affected products was six times larger than the one floated in April.
On veiling the tariffs yesterday, Trump said: “In light of China’s theft of intellectual property and technology and its other unfair trade practices, the US will implement a 25 per cent tariff on $50bn of goods from China that contain industrially significant technologies.
“The United States can no longer tolerate losing our technology and intellectual property through unfair economic practices.”
Read more: Trump confirms he will slap tariffs on $50bn worth of Chinese goods