US-China Trade War Turns More Intense

The trade war between The United States and China is getting more intense as both the countries have imposed another round of tariff hikes on billions of dollars of each other’s automobiles, factory machinery, and other goods.

It was after the Trump administration imposed 25 percent tariffs on another $16 billion of Chinese goods on Thursday that Beijing immediately retaliated with its own levies on American goods worth the same amount. The U.S has imposed the tariffs on 279 Chinese products, including semiconductors, chemicals, plastics, motorbikes and electric scooters. In response, China has also imposed 25 percent tariffs on an equal amount of American goods, such as fuel, steel products, autos and medical equipment.

The latest trade war traction between the two countries at a time when envoys from both countries meet for their first high-level talks on tariff regulations in Washington.

The Chinese Commerce Ministry said in an online statement that China completely opposes the latest tariffs by the U.S. and will fight back against the latest duties. The statement added that China will continue to make necessary counterattacks every time and it also plans to file a complaint against the U.S. with the World Trade Organization.

The U.S-China trade war began back in July when the Trump administration imposed 25 percent tariffs on Chinese goods worth $34 billion to punish Beijing for its unfair trade practices such as stealing intellectual property. Until now, both China and the United States have already imposed tariffs on $50 billion of each other’s goods in the trade war.

Notably, U.S. and Chinese officials are meeting in Washington this week for a new round of trade talks as previous negotiations failed to produce any result.

President Donald Trump told Reuters on Monday that he did not anticipate much from the recent talks. He added that resolving the dispute will “take time because China’s done too well for too long, and they’ve become spoiled.”