China imposes retaliatory tariffs on $60 billion in US goods

Beijing: China on Tuesday announced tariffs on US goods worth $60 billion in retaliation for President Donald Trump´s decision to slap duties on $200 billion in Chinese products next week.

Tariffs of between five and 10 percent will take effect on some 5,200 US products on Monday, on the same day as the new US duties, the finance ministry said.

The two side already traded tariff salvos on $50 billion in goods from each country in the summer.

"If the United States insists on raising tariffs even more, China will respond accordingly," the finance ministry said in a statement.

China also announced that it was lodging a new complaint at the World Trade Organization in its tariffs battle with the United States.

Beijing had previously warned that it would target $60 billion in US goods if Trump made good on his threat to impose the new tariffs.

The lower Chinese figure highlights Beijing´s inability to match the US dollar-for-dollar in a tariffs war.

The US imported around $500 billion worth of products from China last year, compared to $130 billion in US goods imported by the Asian country.

Trump threatened to hit another $267 billion in Chinese goods if Beijing took retaliatory action.

The Chinese finance ministry did not provide a detailed list of products to be hit by the new tariffs on Monday.

A preliminary list in August said products ranging from pig hides to cocoa butter and condoms would be targeted with tariffs of five to 25 percent. It was unclear if the tariffs announced on Tuesday were lower to match the US plan.

The US said the Chinese imports will face 10 percent tariffs through the end of the year, and then the rate will jump to 25 percent.

The new taxes will hit a broad swath of products, including billions in Chinese-made voice data receivers, computer memory modules, data processors, and accessories for office equipment such as copiers and banknote dispensers -- instantly making widely used goods more expensive.

However, senior US administration officials told reporters the initial list announced in July was reduced by 300 product lines in response to 6,000 written comments from consumers and businesses.

The products spared included consumer electronics like smartwatches and Bluetooth devices, child safety products such as high chairs, car seats and playpens, and certain health-and-safety products such as bicycle helmets.

The removal of smartwatches and wireless headphones represents a win for tech giant Apple, which had warned the tariffs would hit its Apple Watch and Airpods product lines.

The exemption comes at a critical time for Apple, days after it unveiled its latest smartwatch and three new iPhones -- which will hit stores starting Friday -- in a bid to push up its growth after it slipped to third place among smartphone makers.

The escalating confrontation initially shook up global stock markets, but Wall Street was up early Tuesday largely on relief that Trump´s tariffs could have been more severe.

While officials said the impact on the US economy has been minimal, firms across the country have reported lost business, layoffs and possible bankruptcies as input costs rise.

US officials told reporters the lower initial tariff rate would give businesses time to find new suppliers.

In Brussels, EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom described the new US tariffs as "very regrettable" and added that Europeans were "at odds with Washington´s methods."

"The escalation" in the US-Chinese trade dispute "is very worrying," said Dieter Kempf, President of the German Industrial Federation (BDI), adding however that China must "take seriously the criticism of its partners."