China fires back in stern rebuke to Trump’s tariff escalation

China has announced the imposition of 50 per cent tariffs on all American imports in response to a 50 per cent tariff increases on its goods from US President Donald Trump.

Trump’s action, which brought the cumulative total of additional import duties to 104 per cent since he took office in January, took effect at noon on Wednesday.

Beijing’s levy is due to take effect at noon on Thursday, and it would bring accumulative additional tariffs raised by Beijing to 84 per cent.

And in addition to filing a complaint with the World Trade Organization over the new US tariffs, the Ministry of Commerce put six US companies on its unreliable-entity list. Also, export controls were placed on 12 American companies, barring Chinese companies from supplying them with dual-use items – goods that have both civilian and military applications.

“China will firmly defend its interests, multilateral trade system and international economic order,” the ministry said online.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the ministry vowed to fight the trade war “to the end”. The government has also intervened in capital markets to shore up investor confidence by increasing purchases of A shares through its “national team” of state-backed funds.