Donald Trump imposed an additional 10% tariff on all Chinese imports at 5am.
Within minutes, China retaliated with an announcement of 15% tariffs on US coal and liquified natural gas, and 10% on crude oil, farm equipment and some vehicles.
The new tariffs will start on 10 February, China’s commerce ministry said.
"The trade war is in the early stages so the likelihood of further tariffs is high," Oxford Economics said in a note as it downgraded its China economic growth forecast.
China’s commerce ministry said the country would also impose export controls on tungsten, tellurium, ruthenium, molybdenum and ruthenium-related items to "safeguard national security interests".
Trump warned he might increase tariffs on China further unless Beijing stemmed the flow of fentanyl, a deadly opioid, into the US.
"China hopefully is going to stop sending us fentanyl, and if they’re not, the tariffs are going to go substantially higher," he said yesterday.
China has called fentanyl America’s problem and said it would challenge the tariffs at the World Trade Organization and take other countermeasures, but also left the door open for talks.
A White House spokesperson said Trump would not be speaking with Chinese President Xi Jinping until later in the week.
*first published in news.sky.com
By: N. Peter Kramer
