China has announced plans to put tariffs of up to 25% on US products worth $60 billion, the latest salvo in an escalating trade war. 
 
 The Chinese government said Friday that it would impose duties of 25%, 20%, 10% and 5% on the products if the Trump administration follows through on threats to tax $200 billion of Chinese goods. 
 
 "In violation of the bilateral consensus reached after multiple rounds of negotiations, the United States has again unilaterally escalated trade frictions," the Chinese State Council Tariff Commission said in its statement on Friday. 
 
 China listed 5,207 US products that it would target in an effort to "safeguard its own legitimate interests." 
 
 Products in line for tariffs include meat, coffee, nuts, alcoholic drinks, minerals, chemicals, leather products, wood products, machinery, furniture and auto parts. 
 
 Related: The making of a global trade war 
 
 Sarah Sanders, the White House press secretary, said in a statement that "instead of retaliating, China should address the longstanding concerns about its unfair trading practices." 
 
 The United States and China trade goods and services worth about $650 billion each year, the largest trading relationship in the world between two countries. 
 
 But China exports far more to the United States than the other way round, making it more challenging for the country to hit back against US tariffs. 
 
 These new tariffs would affect about 38% of all American exports to China, which are worth about $170 billion in total. 
 
 Related: A brief history of the US-China trade war 
 
 Trade tensions between the United States and China have been on the rise since April 2017, when President Donald Trump directed the US Commerce Department to investigate whether imports of steel and aluminum from China and other countries threatened national security. 
 
 The investigation resulted in tariffs on steel and aluminum products from China and many other countries in March. Beijing responded with equal measures. 
 
 Then, in July, the United States imposed tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese goods to pressure the country into abandoning what the Trump administration describes as unfair practices such as stealing intellectual property. Beijing again responded with penalties of an equal scale, targeting American products such as motorcycles and communications satellites. 
 
 The most recent threat from the Trump administration came this week, when it warned that it could impose steeper tariffs than originally planned on another batch of imports from China. 
 
 The White House had previously asked the Office of the United States Trade Representative about the possibility of imposing a 10% tariff on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods. Under the new plan, tariffs of 25% would be applied. 
 
 Protectionist moves by the United States have drawn a response from other trading major partners. Canada, Mexico and the European Union have responded to US taxes on steel and aluminum with retaliatory tariffs. 
 
 -- Kaitlan Collins contributed reporting. ||||| China has pledged to retaliate against U.S. tariffs in “equal scale and equal strength.” In addition to tariffs, here are three ways Beijing could hit back at Washington. Photo: Getty Images 
 
 BEIJING—China is planning to impose tariffs on a majority of its U.S. imports, a move designed to match the Trump administration’s tariff threats blow-for-blow that is bound to further intensify trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies. 
 
 After President Donald Trump raised the ante earlier this week on China by threatening to more than double proposed duties on Chinese imports, the State Council, China’s cabinet, on Friday released a list of $60 billion worth of U.S. goods to hit with tariffs. The planned levies,... ||||| LISTEN TO ARTICLE 4:41 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Share Tweet Post Email 
 
 President Donald Trump will keep pressing China for trade concessions, a top White House economic adviser said, as the Asian nation continued the tariff escalation by announcing further retaliatory actions against U.S. goods. 
 
 “We’ve said many times: no tariffs, no tariff barriers, no subsidies. We want to see trade reforms. China is not delivering, OK?,” National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow said in a Bloomberg Television interview on Friday. “Their economy’s weak, their currency is weak, people are leaving the country. Don’t underestimate President Trump’s determination to follow through.” 
 
 China also signaled on Friday it has no intention of retreating from a trade war. The government announced it has prepared a list of $60 billion worth of U.S. goods to hit with duties should the U.S. follow through on a plan to impose duties on an additional $200 billion of Chinese goods, as early as next month. The Chinese duties ranging from 5 percent to 25 percent will be levied on 5,207 kinds of American imports, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement on its website. 
 
 The retaliation stands to further inflame tensions between the world’s two biggest economies. It echoes China’s response to the previous round of tariffs last month, when the U.S. and China imposed tariffs on $34 billion worth of each others’ goods. 
 
 Another $16 billion in U.S. levies on Chinese goods will likely follow in the coming days or weeks, which Beijing has said it will retaliate against in-kind. 
 
 These U.S. Products May Be Affected by China’s Proposed Tariffs 
 
 In addition, Trump this week ordered officials to consider imposing a 25 percent tax on $200 billion worth of imported Chinese goods, up from an initial 10 percent rate. The move was intended to bring China back to the negotiating table for talks over U.S. demands for structural changes to the Chinese economy and a cut in the bilateral trade deficit. Friday’s retaliation from China suggests that tactic hasn’t worked. 
 
 U.S. and Chinese officials have held “hardly any conversations” in the past month, but there’s “some hint” the Chinese may be warming to the idea of negotiations, Kudlow said. There’s recently been some communication at the highest levels, he told reporters outside the White House. 
 
 Three rounds of trade negotiations between senior U.S. and Chinese officials earlier this year centered on U.S. demands for China to make structural changes to its economy and to reduce its trade surplus with America. On Friday, U.S. data showed the merchandise trade gap with China slightly widened in June to $32.5 billion after May’s $32 billion. 
 
 Tariff Escalation 
 
 The U.S. tariffs now in place or threatened add up to almost half of the value of goods it imported from China last year. The Chinese side seem to be seeking to match that ratio with the new proposals. 
 
 Chinese authorities -- bracing for economic fallout -- have taken a range of measures in recent weeks to bolster the economy. On Friday officials stepped in to cushion the yuan, which has been battered by trade tensions and was approaching the key level of seven to the dollar. 
 
 Read more: China steps in to support its currency 
 
 The People’s Bank of China will impose a reserve requirement of 20 percent on some trading of foreign-exchange forward contracts, according to a statement on Friday evening. That will effectively make it more expensive to short the yuan, and is a tactic that the central bank used to stabilize the currency in the aftermath of its shock devaluation in 2015. 
 
 Kudlow said the weaker yuan indicates that investors have questions about the strength of China’s economy, adding a lack of intervention to prop up the yuan is helping cushion the impact of the trade war for China. A weaker currency usually makes exports more competitive. 
 
 “Some of the currency fall though, I think, is just money leaving China cause it’s a lousy investment and if that continues that will really damage the Chinese economy,” Kudlow said on Friday. 
 
 China is trying to seek an “equal” position in future talks with the U.S. with Friday’s retaliation announcement, said Gai Xinzhe, analyst at the Bank of China’s Institute of International Finance in Beijing. “Any talks in the future, should they happen, should be conducted on an equal and faithful basis.” 
 
 Beijing’s plans for tariffs on $60 billion of U.S. goods includes an additional 5 percent in duty on about 600 kinds of U.S. products including planes and computers; another 10 percent on almost 1,000 products including wigs and textiles; an extra 20 percent on more than 1,000 items including some chemicals, cookers and paper; and an additional 25 percent on over 2,400 products such as meat, wheat, wine and LNG. 
 
 "China’s differential tax rate countermeasures are rational and restrained," the Ministry of Commerce said in a separate statement on its website. "The implementation date will be subject to the actions of the U.S., and China reserves the right to continue introducing other countermeasures." 
 
 — With assistance by Xiaoqing Pi, Yinan Zhao, Kevin Hamlin, Miao Han, and Jonathan Ferro ||||| China is preparing to retaliate in the escalating trade war with tariffs on about $60 billion worth of U.S. goods. 
 
 The import taxes would range in rates from 5 percent to 25 percent, China's Ministry of Commerce said in a release on its website. There are four lists of goods, one for each of the rates proposed. Many of the goods are agricultural-related, with others on various metals and chemicals. 
 
 "The implementation date of the taxation measures will be subject to the actions of the US, and China reserves the right to continue to introduce other countermeasures," China's release said, according to a translation. "Any unilateral threat or blackmail will only lead to intensification of conflicts and damage to the interests of all parties." 
 
 China declared it will impose these new tariffs if the U.S. places more tariffs on Chinese imports. President Donald Trump is considering the U.S. raise proposed tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods to 25 percent from the 10 percent rate his administration is currently mulling, the administration announced Wednesday. 
 
 Trump is trying to use duties, among other tools, to push China to abandon alleged unfair practices and reach a potential new trade deal. Trump aims to balance a desire to force Beijing to the negotiating table with efforts to avoid escalation in a potentially devastating trade war. 
 
 The White House responded to China's announcement in a statement Friday. 
 
 "Instead of retaliating, China should address the longstanding concerns about its unfair trading practices, many of which are laid out in USTRs 301 report," Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said.
– As Trump administration officials mull a possible 25% tariff on $200 billion of Chinese goods—up from the original 10% tariff being bandied about—China is taking its own steps in the newest round of trade threats. Bloomberg and CNBC report on joint statements from China's Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Commerce issued Friday, which note that if the US goes forward with its tariff plan, China will hit more than 5,200 types of US imports, worth $60 billion, with tariffs ranging from 5% to 25%. CNN notes the imports being targeted by China include everything from minerals, chemicals, and furniture to meat, coffee, and alcohol. If and when China puts its tariffs into effect ultimately depends on what the US does, per the government statements. "China reserves the right to continue to introduce other countermeasures" and "any unilateral threat or blackmail will only lead to intensification of conflicts and damage to the interests of all parties," the Ministry of Commerce's statement adds, per the Wall Street Journal.