China announces retaliatory tariffs against US

China has announced it will impose tariffs ranging from 5 to 25 per cent on up to US$60 billion worth of US imports, in the latest act in an escalating trade war.

According to the South China Morning Post, the Chinese Ministry of Finance said that the tariffs were in response to the US threat on July 11 to place tariffs on US$200 billion worth of Chinese goods, and will be applied if the US follows through on that threat.

Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump instructed US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to consider increasing the proposed tariffs on US$200 billion of Chinese imports from 10 per cent to 25 per cent.

The Chinese retaliatory threat came a day after Foreign Minister Wang Yi appealed to the US on Thursday to remain ‘cool-headed’ and conduct dialogue based on ‘mutual respect’, as quoted in the Economic Times.

China Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang took a similar tone in the announcement on Friday, when he asked the US to “return to rationality.” He also accused the US of violating WTO rules, saying, “The US has repeatedly betrayed the consensus reached by negotiations, and accelerated the trade war unilaterally again. It has seriously violated the principles of the World Trade Organization.”

The announcement of the threat came after Wang met with US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, at the ASEAN Regional Forum in Singapore on Friday. As reported in Reuters, however, they pair did not address the trade war specifically.