China levies its own tariffs in self-defense

Beijing confident, protecting national interests as US initiates trade war

Forced to take self-defense countermeasures in response to the trade war ignited by the United States on Friday, China is confident to confront the challenge, and the US-initiated friction will eventually backfire to harm its own markets, in addition to hurting the global economy, officials and analysts said.

The 25-percent additional tariffs slapped on Chinese products worth $34 billion took effect on Friday. The US move pushed China to fight back, and later on Friday it levied additional tariffs on 545 items of US goods with around the same value, including vehicles and agricultural and aquatic products. Those tariffs also took effect on Friday.