China accuses US of ‘trade bullying’ as tariffs kick in and Wall Street shares fall
China has accused the US of “trade bullyism” as new tariffs kicked in and shares on Wall Street fell.
The world's two largest economies showed no signs of cooling off their fiery trade war and pressed ahead with further duties on each other's products on Monday.
Donald Trump hit China with 25 per cent tariffs on a further $200bn (£153m) worth of Chinese products, while Beijing retaliated with duties on $110bn of US goods.
Read more: China will 'open up' for business elsewhere as Trump's tariffs set to begin
Shortly after the new tariffs came into force, China accused the US of “trade bullyism” and said it was intimidating other countries to submit to its will, according to the official Xinhua news agency, continuing its defiant attitude.
A white paper published by China's State Council also said it was willing to restart trade negotiations “based on mutual respect and equality.”
It added: “[The US] has brazenly preached unilateralism, protectionism and economic hegemony, making false accusations against many countries and regions, particularly China, intimidating other countries through economic measures such as imposing tariffs."
On the eve of the fresh duties, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang pledged to cut import and export costs to foreign firms in a bid to show China was open for business with other countries.
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Shares on Wall Street fell throughout the day, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 153 points, 0.57 per cent – Boeing, the largest US exporter to China fell 0.5 per cent.
The S&P 500 dropped 16 points – 0.57 per cent – and the Nasdaq also slumped by 0.5 per cent, losing 42 points.
Trump has threatened duties on a further $267bn worth of Chinese goods.