Trade War Escalates as China Hits US With Huge Tariff

US President's latest salvo of tariffs included punishing duties of 104% on imports of Chinese products

- AFP

China announced Wednesday massive retaliatory tariffs on US goods, sharply escalating a trade war started by President Donald Trump and fueling fresh panic in global markets.

Trump's latest salvo of tariffs came into effect on dozens of trading partners earlier Wednesday, including punishing duties of 104% on imports of Chinese products.

Beijing originally planned to respond with a 34% tariff on imports of US products from 1601 GMT Wednesday, but the finance ministry said it would now raise the toll to 84% after Trump dramatically hiked his own duties on imports from China.

"The tariff escalation against China by the United States simply piles mistakes on top of mistakes (and) severely infringes on China's legitimate rights and interests," the ministry said.

Washington's moves "severely damage the multilateral rules-based trade system," it added.

In a separate statement, Beijing's commerce ministry said it would blacklist six American artificial intelligence (AI) firms, including Shield AI and Sierra Nevada Corp.

Trump did not immediately react to the Chinese counterattack but he called on companies to start relocating to the US to avoid tariffs.