China’s Ministry of Commerce announced on Tuesday it was implementing counter tariffs against the United States on multiple products while announcing other trade-related measures, including an investigation into Google.
The government said that it would implement a 15 per cent tariff on coal and liquefied natural gas products, as well as a 10 per cent tariff on crude oil, agricultural machinery and large-displacement cars.
“The US’s unilateral tariff increase seriously violates the rules of the World Trade Organisation,” a statement said.
“It is not only unhelpful in solving its own problems, but also damages normal economic and trade co-operation between China and the US.”
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The 10 per cent tariff that president Donald Trump ordered on China was set to go into effect on Tuesday, although Mr Trump planned to talk with Chinese president Xi Jinping in the next few days.
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China’s State Administration for Market Regulation on Tuesday said it is investigating Google on suspicion of violating antitrust laws.
While the announcement did not specifically mention any tariffs, the announcement came just minutes after Mr Trump’s 10 per cent tariffs were to take effect.
China said it is imposing export controls on tungsten, tellurium, ruthenium, molybdenum and ruthenium-related items to “safeguard national security interests”.
Beijing also announced it is adding the US companies PVH Group and Illumina Inc to the unreliable entity list.
PVH Group is a US clothing company that owns brands including Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein. Illumina Inc is a biotech company specialising in genomic sequencing, which recently partnered with Nvidia on health related AI tech.
Mr Trump on Monday suspended his threat of 25 per cent tariffs on Mexico and Canada at the last minute, agreeing to a 30-day pause in return for concessions on border and crime enforcement with the two neighbouring countries.
After a call with Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, on Monday, Mr Trump agreed to postpone tariffs of 25 per cent on Mexico – the latest of several delays – after she offered to send 10,000 of the country’s troops to its border with the US.
Talks with Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister, also prompted the US president to postpone 25 per cent tariffs on the country.
Canada is implementing a $1.3bn border plan, Mr Trudeau said, and will appoint a fentanyl czar, list cartels as a terrorists and “ensure 24/7 eyes on the border”.
But there was no such reprieve for China. – Agencies
