China counters Trump with tariffs on soybeans, automobiles

(Apr 4): China said it would levy 25% tariffs on imports of 106 US products including soybeans, automobiles, chemicals and aircraft, in response to proposed American duties on its high-tech goods.

Matching the scale of proposed US tariffs announced Tuesday, the Ministry of Commerce in Beijing said the charges will apply to around US$50 billion of US imports. The step ratchets up tension in a brewing trade war between the world’s two largest trading nations, with the Trump administration’s latest offensive based on alleged infringements of intellectual property in China.

In a statement released Wednesday, China’s envoy to the WTO, Zhang Xiangchen, said that a list of planned charges on more than 1,300 product categories focused on its industrial machinery and technology exports was "an intentional and gross violation of the WTO’s fundamental principles of non-discrimination and bound tariffs."

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