China says to impose tariffs on $60 bn worth of US goods

China said Monday it will impose tariffs on $60 billion worth of US goods from June 1, in apparent retaliation after Washington announced plans to tax almost all Chinese imports.

Beijing will hit a number of American imports with tariffs ranging from 5 percent to 25 percent, according to a statement by the Tariff Policy Commission of the State Council -- China’s cabinet.

The announcement came after the latest round of trade negotiations to resolve disputes between the world’s top two economies ended Friday without a deal.

US President Donald Trump has increased tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods to 25 percent and ordered the start of a process to impose new duties on another $300 billion worth of items.

The response was announced after Trump on Monday warned Beijing not to retaliate.

“China should not retaliatewill only get worse!” the US president wrote in a series of tweets on trade.

But Beijing also appeared to dig in.

“China will never surrender to external pressure,” foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a regular briefing Monday.

Global markets remain on red alert over a trade war between the two superpowers that most observers have warned could shatter global economic growth, and hurt demand for commodities like oil.

BEIJING AFP May13,

2019