China warns U.S. it could fire back with tariffs of $60B worth of goods

BEIJING— The Chinese government threatened on Friday to dramatically escalate its economic standoff with U.S. President Donald Trump, vowing to impose tariffs on $60 billion in U.S. goods if the White House does not halt pending penalties on Chinese imports.

The Chinese Commerce Ministry said China could add duties of 5 per cent, 10 per cent, 20 per cent or 25 per cent on 5,207 types of U.S. imports. It also warned that it could adopt further countermeasures at any time.

Saying it was “forced to act,” Beijing cast the move as a response to Trump’s threat on Wednesday to raise a proposed tariff rate on $200 billion (U.S.) worth of Chinese goods to 25 per cent from 10 per cent.

White House officials had hoped Trump’s latest threat would spook Chinese officials into negotiations, but Beijing instead appears to be digging in with more retaliatory measures that experts believe could hurt the economies of both countries.

The rapidly developing conflict between the White House and China shows no signs of abating.

“The Chinese had better not underestimate the determination of President Trump to follow through and seek zero tariffs and nontariff barriers,” Larry Kudlow, Trump’s top economic adviser, said during an interview on Fox Business Network. The Chinese “are not in good economic shape” to withstand a lengthy fight.

The U.S. economy is heavily reliant on importing more than $500 billion in goods each year from China. Democrats and Republicans have complained that China’s ability to sell goods at a lower cost than U.S. companies has put thousands of American firms out of business.

But it has proved a difficult dynamic to change, given the American consumer’s reliance on Chinese goods.