Beijing, Feb 4 (EFE).- China announced Tuesday that it will impose 10-15 percent tariffs on certain US products starting Feb. 10 after the additional 10 percent levies imposed by US President Donald Trump on Chinese goods came into effect.
Beijing also announced new controls on exports of key minerals to the US and launched an antitrust investigation against American technology giant Google.
China will apply a 15 percent tariff on coal and liquefied natural gas products, as well as a 10 percent tariff on crude oil, agricultural machinery, large displacement cars, and pickup trucks, the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council—the Chinese legislature—said in a statement.
The additional tariffs on the imported goods from the US are based on the current applicable tariff rates, the commission added.
The commission said that Trump’s tariffs seriously violate the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and do not address the US’ own issues but also undermine normal economic and trade cooperation between China and the US.
In another statement, the State Administration of Market Regulation of China announced that it has launched a formal investigation into Google for allegedly violating the country’s anti-monopoly law, without offering further details.
Finally, the ministry of commerce announced export controls on tungsten, tellurium, bismuth, molybdenum and indium.
The ministry said in a statement that it took the decision in accordance with the law in order to safeguard national security and interests and to comply with international obligations regarding non-proliferation.
The ministry on Tuesday announced the inclusion of two American companies, Pvh Group and Illumina Inc, to the list of unreliable entities for violating the principle of market transactions by cutting normal transactions with Chinese enterprises and adopting discriminatory measures against Chinese firms, seriously jeopardizing the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies.
Trump delayed the tariffs he had imposed on imports from Canada and Mexico by one month, but the 10 percent tariffs on Chinese imports came into effect on Tuesday afternoon Beijing time.
On Monday, the American leader announced that he would speak with Chinese officials in the coming days and that it was possible that they could be paused.
Beijing had promised on Sunday to retaliate to “firmly safeguard” its rights and interests, as well as file a complaint with the World Trade Organization over the US’ unlawful practices.
During his first term, Trump sparked a trade dispute with Beijing, imposing several rounds of tariffs worth some $370 billion annually, to which China responded with levies on US exports. EFE
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