<p>China has slapped new tariffs on 128 US products, including pork and fruits, worth about $3 billion in response to the duties on imports of steel and aluminium imposed by the Trump administration, its Ministry of Commerce said on Monday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The ministry said the central Cabinet has decided to impose a tariff of 15% on 120 American products, including fruits and related products, and a tariff of 25% on eight items, including pork and related products, imported from the US.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The decision was a "countermeasure" in response to the US move to slap tariffs on steel and aluminium imports, it said in a statement.</p>.<p class="bodytext">US President Donald Trump had on March 23 signed a memorandum that could impose tariffs up to $60 billions on imports from China and restrictions on Chinese investment in America.</p>.<p class="bodytext">China's Ministry of Commerce had announced last week that it was considering suspending tariff concessions on 128 categories of US products, including pork, wine and seamless steel tubes, worth $3 billion, according to a report by the state-run Xinhua news agency.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The ministry on Monday said China advocates and supports a multilateral trade system, but suspending tariff concession on the US imports was a "just move" to safeguard the country's interests using the Word Trade Organisation (WTO) rules.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Although in violation of the WTO rules, the US measure, which came into effect from March 23, has severely undermined China's interests, the statement said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Despite worldwide objections, the US decided to impose a 25% tariff on steel imports and a 10% tariff on aluminium from many countries, including China, the Xinhua reported.</p>.<p class="bodytext">China is keeping big-ticket items like soybeans, sorghum and Boeing airplanes for heavy tariffs to counter Trump's imposing tariffs on Chinese products to reduce about $375 billion trade deficit between the two countries.</p>.<p class="bodytext">After signing the memorandum, Trump had asked China to immediately cut trade deficit by $100 billion.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The memorandum is based on the Section 301 investigation into alleged Chinese intellectual property and technology transfer practices, launched by the Trump administration in August 2017, according to the report.</p>
<p>China has slapped new tariffs on 128 US products, including pork and fruits, worth about $3 billion in response to the duties on imports of steel and aluminium imposed by the Trump administration, its Ministry of Commerce said on Monday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The ministry said the central Cabinet has decided to impose a tariff of 15% on 120 American products, including fruits and related products, and a tariff of 25% on eight items, including pork and related products, imported from the US.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The decision was a "countermeasure" in response to the US move to slap tariffs on steel and aluminium imports, it said in a statement.</p>.<p class="bodytext">US President Donald Trump had on March 23 signed a memorandum that could impose tariffs up to $60 billions on imports from China and restrictions on Chinese investment in America.</p>.<p class="bodytext">China's Ministry of Commerce had announced last week that it was considering suspending tariff concessions on 128 categories of US products, including pork, wine and seamless steel tubes, worth $3 billion, according to a report by the state-run Xinhua news agency.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The ministry on Monday said China advocates and supports a multilateral trade system, but suspending tariff concession on the US imports was a "just move" to safeguard the country's interests using the Word Trade Organisation (WTO) rules.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Although in violation of the WTO rules, the US measure, which came into effect from March 23, has severely undermined China's interests, the statement said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Despite worldwide objections, the US decided to impose a 25% tariff on steel imports and a 10% tariff on aluminium from many countries, including China, the Xinhua reported.</p>.<p class="bodytext">China is keeping big-ticket items like soybeans, sorghum and Boeing airplanes for heavy tariffs to counter Trump's imposing tariffs on Chinese products to reduce about $375 billion trade deficit between the two countries.</p>.<p class="bodytext">After signing the memorandum, Trump had asked China to immediately cut trade deficit by $100 billion.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The memorandum is based on the Section 301 investigation into alleged Chinese intellectual property and technology transfer practices, launched by the Trump administration in August 2017, according to the report.</p>