July 17, 2018

Trade war with US rages as China files complaint with WTO against additional tariffs

China on Monday, July 16, filed another complaint with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) against the US plan to impose a 10% tariff on an additional $200 billion worth of Chinese goods effective September, according to the Ministry of Commerce website, Xinhua reported.

Six days before, on July 10, the US announced a second round of tariffs on China, in retaliation for Chinese tariffs placed on American goods.

Earlier, China imposed retaliatory 25% tariff on over 170 US seafood products and some 375 other non-seafood goods effective last July 6, the same day that the US started imposing a 25% tariff on roughly 800 of 1,100 Chinese products. 

In response to the latest round of US tariffs, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce on July 12 issued a statement describing the tariffs as "typical unilateralism, protectionism and trade bullying".

"They are a clear violation of the basic WTO principle of most-favored-nation treatment as well as the basic spirit and principles of international law", it said.