"On August 23, China filed a lawsuit with the WTO in connection with the introduction of tariffs on Chinese goods worth $16 billion," the Chinese trade department said in a statement.
A spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Commerce noted that the US decision to impose new tariffs on Chinese goods was "holding its domestic laws above international laws" and "very unreasonable."
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The trade row between Washington and Beijing erupted in March after US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly pledged to fix the US trade deficit with China, announced high tariffs on imported steel and aluminum.
Since then, China and the United States have imposed several rounds of import duties on each other.