Trump Administration Ups The Ante In Trade War With China, Imposes Second Round Of Tariffs On Chinese Imports Worth Billions 

United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer announced on Tuesday that the US will impose a 25 per cent tariff on another $16 billion worth of Chinese goods. The tariffs will come to effect beginning 23 August, Business Insider has reported.

Trump administration is of the view that the US’s $376 billion trade deficit with China is unsustainable, and also wants to rein in China for its alleged theft and subtle intimidation tactics to acquire high-end U.S. technology.

Following this, China’s Ministry of Commerce on Wednesday hit back strongly at the US’s plan to impose new tariffs proposals and in a retaliatory move released a list of items that it said it would target with similar tariffs.

US’s new tariff measures represent the latest salvo it what now looks to be a bitter trade war between US and China. The US had earlier imposed tariffs on $34 billion worth of Chinese imports that came in to force in July.

The latest round of tariffs targets mostly industrial goods such as tractors, plastic tubes, and measurement equipment like speedometers.

If Trump plays out his threat of imposing 25 per cent tariff on an additional $200 billion worth of Chinese imports, the trade war is likely to reach a flashpoint given that China itself has threatened to hit back with its own tariff on $60 billion worth of US goods.

Following the intensification of the US-China trade war, the Chinese economy slowed down in the second quarter of 2018.

The economy grew 6.7 per cent in the last quarter year-on-year – slightly lower than the expectations. The second quarter GDP figure was marginally below the first quarter’s 6.8 per cent, the National Bureau of Statistics said, with slowing exports making a dent on the overall first-half economic growth.