China imposes retaliatory 25% taxes on US products worth 16 billion dollars

The trade war between the United States and China has deepened further. 

Washington has imposed 25 percent tariffs on 16 billion dollar worth of Chinese goods coming into the US, with Beijing immediately imposing retaliatory taxes on the same value of American products. 

The move brings the total amount of goods flowing between the countries, subject to tariffs, up to 106 billion dollars, which is roughly 17 per cent of all of the bilateral trade.

The US tariffs apply to 279 Chinese goods, including



semiconductors, chemicals and railway equipment, while China's list of 333 US products include coal, copper scrap, fuel, buses and medical equipment.

US President Donald Trump had started announcing new tariffs on imports in January as part of an attempt to negotiate what he called fair, bilateral trade deals that bring jobs and industry back onto American shores. China blames the US of unilaterally heightening the tensions.

The first tariffs were imposed in March and China responded in April.