China hits back by levying tariffs on $60 billion of U.S. goods

BEIJING (Reuters) - China will levy tariffs on about $60 billion worth of U.S. goods in retaliation for new U.S tariffs, as previously planned, but has reduced the volume of tariffs that it will collect on the products.

The tariff rates will be levied at 5 and 10 percent, instead of the previously proposed rates of 5, 10, 20 and 25 percent, the Finance Ministry said on its website late on Tuesday.

China will impose a 10 percent tariff on U.S. products it previously designated for a rate of 20 and 25 percent. Liquefied natural gas (LNG), for example, was previously under the 25 percent tariff category but now will be subject to a tariff of 10 percent.

The new tariff measures will take effect on Sept. 24, the date when the Trump administration says it will begin to levy new tariffs of 10 percent on $200 billion of Chinese products.

The tit-for-tat measures are the latest escalation in an increasingly protracted trade dispute between the world's two largest economies.

(Reporting by Ryan Woo, Se Young Lee, Yawen Chen and Lusha Zhang; Editing by Kevin Liffey)