China says will impose additional tariffs on $60bn worth of US imports

China says it will impose additional tariffs on $60 billion worth of US imports, including liquefied natural gas (LNG) and aircraft, in response to US President Donald Trump’s plan to increase duties on Chinese goods worth $200 billion.

On Friday, China's Finance Ministry said Beijing would impose tariff rates ranging from 5 to 25 percent on 5,207 goods imported from the United States.

The Chinese Commerce Ministry said in a separate statement that the implementation date of the levies would depend on Washington's behavior.

"The US side has repeatedly escalated the situation against the interests of both enterprises and consumers," the ministry said.

"China has to take necessary countermeasures to defend its dignity and the interests of its people, free trade and the multilateral system."

The Trump administration said on Wednesday that the president planned to propose a 25-percent tariff on $200 billion of imported Chinese goods, after initially setting them at 10 percent as he sought to pressure Beijing into making trade concessions.

A top adviser to President Trump downplayed the newly proposed tariffs, saying they were not as severe as the White House had been bracing for, warning China not to test Trump's resolve.

"They better not underestimate the president," White House National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow said in an interview on Fox Business Network. "He is going to stand tough," Kudlow added.

Washington imposed 25-percent duties on $34 billion of imports from China in early July.

Beijing, for its part, announced that its tit-for-tat duties had taken effect on $34 billion of US goods that included soybeans and electric vehicles.

China warned the US that it would have no choice but to take “necessary countermeasures” against Washington.

Amid the trade spat with the US, data compiled by Bloomberg showed that China lost its ranking as the world's second-largest stock market, giving the place back to Japan after four years.

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Beijing and Washington have not had formal trade talks since early June.

Two senior diplomats met earlier on Friday on the sidelines of a regional summit in Singapore. After meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, China's State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi expressed his country’s willingness to resolve differences with the US "on the basis of an equal footing and mutual respect."

"He (Pompeo) was accommodating on this as a direction, and said that he does not want current frictions to continue."

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