US China trade war – China imposes counter tariffs on US coal, crude oil after Donald Trump move, launches probe into Google

Days after Donald Trump waged a trade war with China, Beijing, in a tit-for-tat move, imposed counter tariffs on a range of US goods. Not stopping on tariffs, China also launched an investigation into Google over alleged anti-trust violations.

China’s foreign ministry on Tuesday said 15 per cent tariffs will be imposed on US coal and LNG and an additional 10 per cent tariff will be applied on crude oil, farm equipment and large-displacement cars.

“The US’s unilateral tariff increase seriously violates the rules of the World Trade Organisation. It is not only unhelpful in solving its own problems, but also damages normal economic and trade cooperation between China and the US,” the official statement reads.

This move follows the implementation of the US’s 10 per cent tariffs on Chinese imports earlier today.

In a retaliatory move, China also announced that it will probe the US tech giant Google over an alleged anti-trust violation, according to the State Administration for Market Regulation. The statement provided no further details on the investigation. However, it must be noted that Google’s search engine is blocked in China, but the company works with local partners, including advertisers.

China announced new trade measures, including export controls on tungsten-related materials and adding PVH Corporation, the owner of Calvin Klein, and Illumina Inc. to its unreliable entity list.

The offshore yuan fell 0.3 per cent to 7.3340 in the afternoon as China imposed 10 per cent tariffs on some US goods, Bloomsberg reported. The currency’s onshore market remained closed for the Lunar New Year holiday.

Currencies tied to China’s economy also declined. The Australian and New Zealand dollars fell by at least 0.8 per cent.

Over the weekend, Donald Trump cited Beijing’s failure to curb the flow of illegal drugs into the US. The order includes provisions for higher tariffs if China responds with its own measures.