US–China trade war escalates as China imposes tariffs on US goods

Apr 02, 2018 (LBO) – China has suspended tariff concessions on 128 items of U.

S. products including pork and fruits starting Monday, Country’s Finance Ministry said. China's Finance Ministry said in a statement that the measure was taken in order to safeguard China’s interests and balance the losses caused by the United States. “China's advocacy and support for the multilateral trading system and the suspension of tariff concessions to the US are legitimate measures taken by China using the rules of the WTO,” Finance Ministry said.

“Based on the current applicable tariff rates, we have suspended duties of seven categories of 128 imported goods originating in the United States from April 2, 2018.” Accordingly, a tariff of 15 percent will be imposed on 120 items of products imported from the United States including fruits and related products. A tariff of 25 percent will be imposed on eight items of imports including pork and related products from the United States.





Finance Ministry further said the current policy on tax-free and tax-exempted goods remains unchanged. Last month, Trump imposed tariffs on 60 billion US dollars in Chinese goods and limited China’s ability to invest in the United States technology industry. A 25-percent tariff has been imposed by United States on steel imports and a 10-percent tariff on aluminum, with tariffs on imports from countries including China.