China on Tuesday slapped tariffs on US imports in a swift response to new US duties on Chinese goods, renewing a trade war between the world’s top two economies even as President Donald Trump offered reprieves to Mexico and Canada.
Additional 10% tariff across all Chinese imports into the US came into effect after Trump repeatedly warned Beijing it was not doing enough to halt the flow of illicit drugs into the United States.
China’s Finance Ministry said it would impose levies of 15% for US coal and LNG and 10% for crude oil, farm equipment and some autos.
The new tariffs on US exports will start on February 10, the ministry said.
China also said it was starting an anti-monopoly investigation in Alphabet Inc’s Google, while including both PVH Corp, the holding company for brands including Calvin Klein, and US biotechnology company Illumina on its “unreliable entities list”.
China’s Commerce Ministry and its Customs Administration said it is imposing export controls on tungsten, tellurium, molybdenum, bismuth and indium to “safeguard national security interests”. China controls much of the world’s supply of such rare earths that are critical for the clean energy transition.
