China hits back, slaps new tariffs on 106 US products

TIL Desk/World/Beijing/ China in no time hit back by slapping tariffs of worth $50 billion on 106 US products on Wednesday, hours after Washington decided to impose import taxes on 1,300 Chinese products.

The Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council has decided to impose an additional tariff of 25 per cent on 106 items of products under 14 categories, Chinese Finance Ministry as saying.

The Ministry said the move was in response to Washington’s proposed list of products subject to additional tariffs, which covered Chinese exports worth $50 billion with a suggested tariff rate of 25 per cent.

The date of implementation will depend on when the US government impose the tariffs on Chinese products, the Ministry said. The Chinese Commerce Ministry said the US move was “an evident violation of rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO)”.

Washington’s action “severely infringed on the legitimate rights and interests that China enjoys in accordance with the WTO rules, and threatened China’s economic interests and security”, said the Commerce Ministry.