Trump imposes $50bln in tariffs; China plans similar action

Washington/Beijing: US President Donald Trump on Friday announced tariffs of 25 percent targeting $50 billion in Chinese imports, making good on a pledge to punish the alleged theft of American intellectual property.

The announcement was sure to spark countermeasures by Beijing, which has vowed to retaliate, bringing the world´s two largest economies to the brink of an all-out trade war long feared by markets and industry.

China also planned to impose tariff measures of similar size and intensity in its bid to fight back against the United States, as the world´s two largest economies engage in a bitter trade dispute.

"China is unwilling to have a trade war, but the Chinese side has no choice but to strongly oppose this, due to the United States´ myopic behaviour that will harm both parties," the commerce ministry said on its website.

China's commerce ministry said the measures harm the interests of both countries and disrupt world trade order. "We will immediately introduce tariff measures of the same scale and strength. All the results from the negotiations previously reached by the two parties will be invalid."

However in a statement, Trump also warned of "additional tariffs" should China hit back with tit-for-tat duties on American goods and services exports. "The United States can no longer tolerate losing our technology and intellectual property through unfair economic practices," Trump said in the statement.

"These tariffs are essential to preventing further unfair transfers of American technology and intellectual property to China, which will protect American jobs."

The announcement caps months of sometimes fraught shuttle diplomacy between Washington and Beijing, in which Chinese offers failed to assuage Trump´s grievances over the soaring US-China trade imbalance. The Trump administration on Friday also released a finalized list of Chinese goods that faced the tariffs restrictions.