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<\/a>\u00a9 Stuart Miles | Dreamstime.com<\/p><\/div>\n
NEWSMAX<\/p>\n
China said on Monday it would impose higher tariffs on a range of U.S. goods, striking back in its trade war with Washington shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump warned it not to retaliate.<\/p>\n
China\u2019s finance ministry said it plans to set import tariffs ranging from 5 percent to 25 percent on 5,140 U.S. products on a target list worth about $60 billion. It said the tariffs will take effect on June 1.<\/p>\n
The announcement came less than two hours after Trump warned Beijing not to retaliate after China said it \u201cwill never surrender to external pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n
The White House and U.S. Trade Representative\u2019s office did not immediately return a request for comment.<\/p>\n
Global equities fell sharply on Monday as hopes of an imminent trade deal between the world\u2019s two largest economies were crushed. Major U.S. stock index futures were down about 2 percent.<\/p>\n
The trade war escalated on Friday after Trump hiked tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods, saying China had reneged on earlier commitments made during months of trade negotiations.<\/p>\n
Beijing had vowed to respond to the latest U.S. tariffs. \u201cAs for the details, please continue to pay attention. Copying a U.S. expression – wait and see,\u201d Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a daily news briefing on Monday.<\/p>\n
Trump warned China not to intensify the trade dispute and urged its leaders, including President Xi Jinping, to continue to work to reach a deal. \u201cChina should not retaliate-will only get worse,\u201d he said on Twitter.<\/p>\n
\u201cI say openly to President Xi & all of my many friends in China that China will be hurt very badly if you don\u2019t make a deal because companies will be forced to leave China for other countries,\u201d Trump wrote.<\/p>\n
STEADY DRUM BEAT<\/strong><\/p>\n Trump last week also ordered U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to begin imposing tariffs on all remaining imports from China, a move that would affect an additional $300 billion worth of goods.<\/p>\n Asked about the threat, Geng said: \u201cWe have said many times that adding tariffs won\u2019t resolve any problem … We have the confidence and the ability to protect our lawful and legitimate rights.\u201d<\/p>\n Chinese state media kept up a steady drum beat of strongly worded commentary on Monday, reiterating that China\u2019s door to talks was always open, but vowing to defend the country\u2019s interests and dignity.<\/p>\n In a commentary, state television said the effect on the Chinese economy from the U.S. tariffs was \u201ctotally controllable.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s no big deal. China is bound to turn crisis to opportunity and use this to test its abilities, to make the country even stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n Before high-level talks last week in Washington, China tried to delete commitments from a draft agreement that Chinese laws would be changed to enact new policies on issues from intellectual property protection to forced technology transfers. That dealt a major setback to negotiations.<\/p>\n Trump has since defended the U.S. tariff hike and said he was in \u201cabsolutely no rush\u201d to finalize a deal.<\/p>\n Top White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Sunday there was a \u201cstrong possibility\u201d Trump will meet China\u2019s Xi at a G20 summit in Japan in late June.<\/p>\n \u00a9 2019 Thomson\/Reuters. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n