China hits back at Trump tariffs with 34% tax on US goods

China has announced countermeasures against tariffs imposed by the United States of America President, Donald Trump including additional tariffs of 34 percent on all goods and curbs on the export of some rare earths, deepening an escalating trade war.

Trump on Wednesday announced that China would be hit with a 34 percent tariff, on top of the 20 percent he imposed earlier this year, bringing the total new levies to 54 percent.

China’s Ministry of Finance says the additional tariffs would be imposed from April 10.

They say Beijing has previously imposed tariffs of 15 percent on imports of coal and liquefied natural gas from the US in retaliation for Washington’s 10 percent levies on Chinese goods.

It also announced stiff export controls on key minerals and businesses, limiting what could be exchanged with the US.

The Ministry of Commerce says the purpose of the Chinese government’s implementation of export controls on relevant items in accordance with the law is to better safeguard national security and interests.

Trump responded to the retaliatory measures with a fiery social-media post written as “CHINA PLAYED IT WRONG, THEY PANICKED – THE ONE THING THEY CANNOT AFFORD TO DO!”.

Source: Aljazeera