In a further escalation of the US-China trade war, Beijing announced on Tuesday (Feb 4) that it would impose 15 per cent tariffs on imports of coal and liquefied natural gas from the United States.

Advertisment

"A 15 percent tariff will be imposed on coal and liquefied natural gas (LNG)," Beijing's finance ministry said, adding the tariffs come into force next Monday.

The finance ministry also unveiled 10 percent tariffs on imports from the United States of crude oil, agricultural machinery, large-displacement vehicles and pickup trucks.

China said that the measures were retaliatory and in response to the "unilateral tariff hike" by Washington.

Advertisment

China files complaint with WTO over US tariffs

Beijing further said that it had filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization "to defend its legitimate rights and interests" in response to hiked US tariffs on Chinese goods.

"China has filed a case against the US tariff measures under the WTO dispute settlement mechanism," the commerce ministry said in a statement, adding the US actions were of a "malicious nature". 

Advertisment

Also read: China 'firmly opposes' tariffs imposed by US, vows 'countermeasures'

Beijing to probe Google over anti-monopoly violations

In addition to this, China said that it would launch a probe into the US tech Giant Google's violations of anti-monopoly laws.

Beijing's State Administration for Market Regulation said the US tech giant was "suspected of violating the Anti-Monopoly Law of the People's Republic of China".

It has "launched an investigation into Google in accordance with the law" as a result, the administration said in a statement.

Trump says US-China tariff talks likely in next 24 hours

China's move comes hours after US President Donald Trump on Monday said that talks between Washington and Beijing over the tariffs he imposed would likely be held in the next 24 hours.

While speaking to reporters at the White House before a sweeping 10 per cent duty was set to come into effect on Chinese imports, Trump said the talks would occur "probably over the next 24 hours."

'No winners in trade war'

Beijing had earlier released a statement saying that there are "no winners in a trade war or tariff war", adding that the additional duties would "inevitably affect and damage future bilateral cooperation on drug control".

This comes after Trump announced an additional 10% tariff on Chinese imports, which he said would be imposed on top of existing duties. 

China's commerce ministry released a statement on Sunday (Feb 2) slamming Washington's "erroneous practices", stating that Beijing was "strongly dissatisfied with this and firmly opposes it".

It added that the duties were "not only unhelpful in solving the US's own problems but also undermine normal economic and trade cooperation".

"China hopes that the United States will objectively and rationally view and deal with its own issues like fentanyl, rather than threatening other countries with tariffs at every turn," the ministry had said.

(With inputs from agencies)