On Sunday, the Chinese Commerce Ministry imposed new import tariffs on 128 US products in response to US President Donald Trump’s recent trade actions against China.
"China's subsidization and continued overcapacity is the root cause of the steel crises. Instead of targeting fairly traded US exports, China needs to stop its unfair trading practices which are harming US national security and distorting global markets," White House Deputy Secretary Lindsay Walters said.
The Chinese ministry has earlier informed that Beijing would introduce import tariffs on 128 US products starting on April 2 in response to Washington's recently imposed trade barriers, in order to protect its interests and compensate for damage from the US tariffs.
Earlier, MarketWatch reported that investor fears over trade wars triggered a nosedive in the stock market. As of 2:23 p.m. EST (6:23 p.m. GMT) on Monday, the US Dow Jones Industrial average index was down 2.6 percent, or 643 points. On March 22, the Dow Jones ended the day down 720 points — the fifth-worst single-day point loss in US History — after Trump announced the anti-Chinese trade actions.
Earlier in March, Trump signed an order to impose a 25-percent import tax on steel and 10-percent import tax on aluminum. The decree will become effective on March 23. Trump's move was sharply criticized by Washington's major trade partners, particularly Canada, China, and the European Union, which accused Trump of excessive protectionism and pledged to impose countermeasures.