China announces tariff hikes on US goods worth $ 200 billion

China on Monday announced that it would raise tariffs on a range of US products, in retaliation to Washington's decision to ramp up the tariffs rate to 25 per cent on USD 200 billion worth of Chinese imports.

Escalating the trade war between the two biggest economies, China's Ministry of Finance said that it will raise tariffs on USD 60 billion worth of US goods on June 1. The tariff would range from 5 per cent to 25 per cent, reported the Washington Post.

The development has come hours after US President Donald Trump warned China to "not retaliate," arguing that the country has taken "advantage of the US for so many years."

Trump wrote on his official Twitter handle, "There will be nobody left in China to do business with. Very bad for China, very good for USA! But China has taken so advantage of the U.S. for so many years, that they are way ahead (Our Presidents did not do the job). Therefore, China should not retaliate-will only get worse!"

The US President went on to say: "I say openly to President Xi & all of my many friends in China that China will be hurt very badly if you don't make a deal because companies will be forced to leave China for other countries. Too expensive to buy in China. You had a great deal, almost completed, & you backed out!"

The latest round of high-level trade talks between the two countries had ended without a deal. Following the talks, Trump had warned China to act immediately and strike a trade deal with the US in order to avoid a "far worse" negotiation after 2020.

"I think that China felt they were being beaten so badly in the recent negotiation that they may as well wait around for the next election, 2020, to see if they could get lucky & have a Democrat win - in which case they would continue to rip-off the USA for $500 Billion a year," Trump wrote on Twitter.

The US escalated its trade war with China on Friday by levying a fresh 15 per cent hike of tariffs on 200 billion dollars worth of Chinese goods in the middle of last-ditch talks to rescue a trade deal.A rise in tariffs on all remaining Chinese imports, valued at approximately USD 300 billion is further under process.

Trump has alleged that Beijing is ripping off U.S. consumers and businesses by unfairly subsidizing Chinese companies, stealing intellectual property from U.S. firms, and flooding global markets with cheap goods to put other companies out of business.