Google suspected of violating China's anti-monopoly law, says regulator launching probe

The probe was launched minutes after the Donald Trump administration-imposed additional 10% tariff on Chinese goods came into effect.

Beijing: China's anti-monopoly regulator said on Tuesday it had launched an investigation into Alphabet's Google, minutes after an additional 10 per cent tariff on Chinese goods imposed by US President Donald Trump came into effect.

The investigation by China's State Administration of Market Regulation was announced as Beijing also slapped tariffs on some US products such as coal and oil in a rapid response to the new US duties on Chinese goods.

The Chinese regulator said Google was suspected of violating the country's anti-monopoly law, and it had initiated an investigation into the company in accordance with the law. It did not offer any further details on the investigation or on what it alleged Google had done to breach the law.

Google products such as its search engine are blocked in China, but it works with local partners such as advertisers in the country.

Google did not respond immediately to a request for comment.