Trade War Intensifies: China hits back at US by levying tariffs on $60 billion goods

Sep 18 (AZINS) China will levy tariffs on about $60 billion worth of US goods in retaliation for new US tariffs, as previously planned, but has reduced the volume of tariffs that it will collect on the products.

The tariff rates will be levied at 5 and 10%, instead of the previously proposed rates of 5, 10, 20 and 25%, the Finance Ministry said on its website late on Tuesday.

China will impose a 10% tariff on US products it previously designated for a rate of 20 and 25%. Liquefied natural gas (LNG), for example, was previously under the 25% tariff category but now will be subject to a tariff of 10%.

The new tariff measures will take effect on Sept. 24, the date when the Trump administration says it will begin to levy new tariffs of 10% on $200 billion of Chinese products.

The tit-for-tat measures are the latest escalation in an increasingly protracted trade dispute between the world's two largest economies.