China retaliates, announces tariffs

China on Wednesday showed no signs of backing down in its escalating trade war with the U.S., announcing that it will begin imposing additional 25 percent tariffs on $16 billion of American goods starting Aug. 23.

The announcement by China’s Commerce Ministry came a day after the Trump administration formalized its own additional tariffs of the same size and on the same value of Chinese goods, effective on the same date.

Both moves were expected as the tit-for-tat trade battle continues. The new U.S. tariffs are “very unreasonable,” the Chinese Commerce Ministry said in a statement. China’s new tariffs, originally outlined in June, will hit 333 categories of U.S. imports, including some vehicles, fiber optic cables, industrial chemicals, gasoline and other fuels.

Both countries slapped tariffs on $34 billion in imports from each other last month as President Trump has sought to force changes in China’s policies to reduce the U.S. trade deficit with the Asian superpower.

Trump has threatened to place tariffs on an additional $200 billion in Chinese imports. Last week, Trump tried to increase pressure on Beijing by directing administration officials to consider more than doubling the size of those tariffs, to 25 percent from the 10 percent initially proposed in July.

The U.S. trade representative’s office announced Tuesday that it was moving forward with additional 25 percent tariffs on $16 billion of imports from China. Customs officials will begin collecting those on Aug. 23 on 279 categories of goods, including motorcycles and fiber optic cables.

The National Association of Manufacturers trade group warned of the effects of the trade battle on the U.S. economy and urged Trump and Chinese officials to renew negotiations.