China Hits Back at New US Tariffs with Increased Duties and Business Restrictions

China has responded to new US tariffs by implementing tariff increase of 10 to 15 percent on a variety of American agricultural and food products.

The Asian country also imposed export and investment restrictions on twenty-five US companies citing national security concerns, but chose not to target any major household brands, unlike its response to the President Donald Trump administration’s tariffs on February 4th.

China’s latest retaliatory tariffs were triggered by the additional 10 percent duty that the US President threatened China with last week, which took effect on March 4, resulting in a cumulative 20 percent tariff in response to what the White House views as China’s failure to address drug trafficking issues.

The retaliatory actions moved the world’s two largest economies closer to the brink of a full-scale trade war.