China announced countermeasures on Tuesday in response to the U.S. decision to impose an additional 10-percent tariff on goods from China and criticized its move for harming bilateral trade relations.
This comes after the levies imposed by the Trump administration took effect at 13:00 Beijing time.
An additional 15-percent tariff will be imposed on imported coal and liquefied natural gas originating from the United States, according to a statement from the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council said on Tuesday.
Crude oil, agricultural machinery, automobiles with high engine capacity, and pickup trucks will be subject to an additional tariff of 10 percent, it said.
The commission said that these additional tariffs will be applied on top of existing rates. Current bonded, tax reduction, and exemption policies remain unchanged and the latest tariffs to be imposed will not be reduced or exempted.
The move is in accordance with the basic principles of international law, and with Chinese laws and regulations such as the tariff law, the foreign trade law and the customs law, according to the statement.
The Ministry of Commerce (MOC) confirmed it has filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO)'s dispute settlement mechanism, challenging the U.S. tariff measures.
The move is to safeguard China's legitimate rights and interests, an MOC spokesperson said in response to media inquiries on Tuesday.
The U.S. imposition of additional tariffs on Chinese products has seriously violated the WTO rules, and this egregious act is typical of unilateralism and trade protectionism, said the spokesperson.
The spokesperson said the U.S. move severely undermines the rules-based multilateral trading system, erodes the foundation of China-U.S. economic and trade cooperation, and disrupts the stability of global industrial and supply chains.
In a separate announcement on Tuesday, the ministry added two U.S. firms, namely PVH Corp. and Illumina, Inc., to China's unreliable entity list.
The two entities have violated normal market trading principles, terminated regular trade with Chinese companies, and adopted discriminatory measures against Chinese companies, thus severely harming their legitimate rights and interests, according to a statement.
The decision was made to maintain national sovereignty, security, and development interests, and in accordance with relevant laws and regulations, the statement noted.
The unreliable entity list mechanism will take corresponding measures against the aforementioned entities based on relevant laws and regulations, according to the statement.
China launches countermeasures against US tariffs, files WTO complaint
