China to slap 10 per cent tariffs on USD 75 billion worth of US exports

China on Friday said it will impose additional 10 per cent tariffs on USD 75 billion worth of US exports in retaliation to President Donald Trump's threat to impose new tariffs on USD 300 billion worth of Chinese imports as trade war between the top two economies continues to intensify.

Since the commencement of trade war last year China and US have so far hit each other with punitive tariffs covering billions of dollars in two-way trade.

Trump kicked off the trade war demanding China to reduce massive trade deficit which last year climbed to over USD 539 billion.

He is also insisting on China to workout verifiable measures for protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) technology transfer and more access to American goods to the Chinese markets.

On Friday China's Customs Tariff Commission said that Beijing will impose additional tariffs on US imports worth about USD 75 billion in response to the newly announced US tariff hikes on Chinese goods, the state-run Xinhua news agency quoted the Commission as saying.

Also, China will resume imposing additional tariffs of 25 per cent or 5 per cent on American-made vehicles and auto parts starting from 12:01 pm December 15, another announcement said.

The US government had announced on August 15 that it will impose additional tariffs of 10 per cent on Chinese goods worth about USD 300 billion effective on September 1 and December 15, respectively, in two batches.

The US move has led to a further escalation of bilateral trade frictions, greatly damaging the interests of China, the United States and other countries, and also gravely threatening the multilateral trading system and free trade principles, the statement said.

The commission will continue with the work of exempting certain items from additional tariffs.

China's imposition of additional tariffs is a forced response to the US unilateralism and trade protectionism, it said.

China reiterates once again that cooperation is the only correct choice for China and the US and that only a win-win situation will lead to a better future.

"We hope China and the United States will resolve differences in a manner acceptable to both sides on the premise of mutual respect, equality, good faith, and consistency of words and deeds," the statement said.

The two sides are expected to actively build a new balanced, inclusive and win-win Sino-US economic and trade order, jointly safeguard, reform and improve the multilateral trading system, and promote win-win cooperation with other countries in the world, the statement added.

Another announcement said China will resume imposing additional tariffs of 25 per cent or 5 percent on American-made vehicles and auto parts starting from 12:01 pm on December 15, the Commission said.

An exemption from the additional tariffs could be applied for, and detailed policies on such applications will be released separately, the commission said.