(CNBC)
Jacob Pramuk May 13, 2019
China will raise tariffs on $60 billion in U.S. goods in retaliation for the U.S. decision to hike duties on Chinese goods, the Chinese Finance Ministry said Monday.
Beijing will increase tariffs on more than 5,000 products to as high as 25%. Duties on some other goods will increase to 20%. Those rates will rise from either 10% or 5% previously.
The move follows President Donald Trump’s decision to raise duties on $200 billion in Chinese products to 25% from 10%. The world’s two largest economies have struggled to sign a trade deal and end a widening conflict that threatens to damage the global economy.
The latest shot in the trade war rattled investors. Major U.S. stock indexes dove more than 2% Monday amid the escalation.
The duties in large part target U.S. farmers, who largely supported Trump in 2016 but suffered from previous shots in the Trump administration’s trade war with China. The thousands of products include peanuts, sugar, wheat, chicken and turkey.
Neither the White House nor the Treasury Department immediately responded to CNBC’s requests to comment on the tariff increase.
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