The White House criticized China for setting tariff policies on imports of US products, including pork and wine. China imposes import tariffs of up to 25% on 128 US products.
The policy is in retaliation for a policy by US President Donald Trump who decides to impose import tariffs on steel and aluminum. China said the policy was made to protect interests and balance the losses caused by the imposition of new tariffs.
Quoting from the BBC on Tuesday (3/4/2018), US stocks fell and Asian stock markets opened lower, in line with trade war worries increasingly heated up. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 stock index opened lower at around 1.5 percent.
In a statement, the White House accused Beijing of disturbing the global market.
"Subsidizing and continuing overcapacity in China is at the root of the problem of the steel crisis, rather than targeting properly trafficked US exports, China must stop its fraudulent trade practices, which disrupt US national security and global markets," White House spokeswoman Linda Walters said.
Trump himself describes China as the enemy of the US economy. Some time ago, the US has taken a major step that triggered tension with China.
On March 8, 2018, the US announced a tariff policy on imports of steel and aluminum globally. The policy aims to protect US producers and critical for US national security.
China also challenged the United States and announced a reply policy by imposing import tariffs for US products worth 3 billion US dollars. The tariff is effective at the beginning of this week and targets US products such as frozen pork, beans, fresh and dried fruit, ginseng, and wine.
