The U.S. slapped steep tariffs on another $16 billion in Chinese goods on Thursday, triggering a swift tit-for-tat retaliation from Beijing, even as negotiators from both sides seek to soothe trade tensions. The latest action completes the first round of $50 billion in Chinese products that President Donald Trump had targeted, with Beijing striking back at American products dollar-for-dollar at each step. ‘Firmly oppose tariffs’ China “firmly opposes the tariffs and has no choice but to continue to make the necessary counter-attacks”, the Commerce Ministry said in a statement. Beijing hit back with tariffs on an equal amount of U.S. goods, targeting iconic products such as Harley-Davidson motorcycles, dump trucks and asphalt, among hundreds of others. The Ministry said the U.S. tariffs were “clearly suspected” of violating the World Trade Organisation rules, and noted it would file a lawsuit against them under the WTO’s dispute resolution mechanism. The escalation came as the world’s two largest economies hold their first formal discussions since June on the spiralling trade war.
