China says US trying to force it to submit on trade as new tariffs kick in

Tariffs on $200b worth of Chinese goods go into effect, Beijing retaliates with tariffs on $60b worth of goods

BEIJING: The United States and China imposed fresh tariffs on each other's goods on Monday as the world's biggest economies showed no signs of backing down from an increasingly bitter trade dispute that is expected to knock global economic growth.

Soon after the new duties went into effect, China accused the US of engaging in "trade bullyism" and said it was intimidating other countries to submit to its will, the official Xinhua news agency said, reiterating China's willingness to fight if necessary. But Beijing also said it was willing to restart trade negotiations with the United States if the talks are "based on mutual respect and equality," Xinhua said, citing a white paper on the dispute published by China's State Council.

US tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods and retaliatory tariffs by Beijing on $60 billion worth of US products took effect at midday Asian time, though the initial level of the duties was not as high as earlier feared. The US will levy tariffs of 10% initially, rising to 25% at the end of 2018. Beijing has imposed rates of 5-10% and warned it would respond to any rise in US tariffs on Chinese products accordingly.

The two sides had already slapped tariffs on $50 billion worth of each other's goods. For US consumers, the new duties could translate into higher prices for Chinese products ranging from vacuum cleaners to technology gear such as home modems and routers, while US goods targeted by Beijing include liquefied natural gas and certain types of aircraft.

President Donald Trump is pressing China to reduce its huge bilateral trade surplus and make sweeping changes to its policies on trade, technology transfers and high-tech industrial subsidies. Beijing has denied that US firms are forced to transfer technology and sees Washington's demands on rolling back its industrial policies as an attempt to contain China's economic rise. The US administration "has brazenly preached unilateralism, protectionism and economic hegemony, making false accusations against many countries and regions, particularly China, intimidating other countries through economic measures such as imposing tariffs," Xinhua quoted the State Council's white paper as saying.