China hits back at US tariffs sparking fears of a global trade war
The duty increases are likely to hit US farm states that voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 election.
Monday 2 April 2018 14:33, UK
China has raised tariffs on a $3bn (£2.1bn) list of 128 US products including pork, wine and apples.
Beijing is imposing a 25% duty increase on frozen US pork and aluminium scrap and 15% on sparkling wine, steel pipe used by oil and gas companies and fruits and nuts including apples, walnuts and grapes.
The increases will hit US farm states, many of which voted for Donald Trump in 2016 after the US President confirmed tariffs of up to $60bn (£42.6bn) on imports from China last month.
There was no indication whether Beijing might exempt Chinese-owned American suppliers.
Mr Trump launched his protectionist agenda last week - levying 25% tariffs on steel and 10% on aluminium - in a move designed to save US jobs but which critics fear could backfire.
The US will unveil a list of Chinese imports to be targeted with higher duties later this week, but it may be more than two months before tariffs take effect.
Rapidly growing trade tensions between the US and China - the world's two largest economies - has sparked fears of a world trade war.
On Monday, the main stock market indexes in Tokyo and Shanghai ended the day down.
Mr Trump has promised to narrow the US trade surplus with China - a record $375.2bn (£266.7bn) last year - and has welcomed the prospect of a trade war.
:: Tariffs could harm the world and the US
Washington has accused China of intellectual property theft and unfair technology licensing rules.
America has also said China's state-led economics model unfairly benefits Chinese companies and subsidises exports in violation of free-trade agreements.