US President Donald Trump says he is pushing ahead with hefty tariffs on $US50 billion ($67 billion) of Chinese imports, and the smouldering trade war between the world’s two largest economies showed signs of igniting as Beijing immediately vowed to respond in kind.

Mr Trump laid out a list of more than 800 strategically important imports from China that would be subject to a 25 per cent tariff starting on July 6, including cars, the latest hardline stance on trade by a US president who has already been wrangling with allies.

China’s commerce ministry said it would respond with tariffs “of the same scale and strength”.

The official Xinhua news agency said China would impose 25 per cent tariffs on 659 US products, ranging from soybeans and cars to seafood.

China’s retaliation list was increased more than six-fold from a version released in April, but the value was kept at $US50 billion ($67 billion), as some high-value items such as commercial aircraft were deleted.

Mr 
Trump said in a statement that the US would pursue additional tariffs if China retaliates.

Washington and Beijing appeared increasingly headed towards open trade conflict after several rounds of negotiations failed to resolve US complaints over Chinese industrial policies, lack of market access in China and a $US375 billion ($500 billion) US trade deficit.

“These tariffs are essential to preventing further unfair transfers of American technology and intellectual property to China, which will protect American jobs,” Mr Trump said.

Analysts, however, did not expect the US tariffs to inflict a major wound to China’s economy and said the trade dispute likely would continue to fester.

US Customs and Border Protection will begin collecting tariffs on 818 product categories valued at $US34 billion ($45 billion) on July 6, the US Trade Representative’s office said.

The list was slimmed down from a version unveiled in April, dropping Chinese flat-panel television sets, medical breathing devices and oxygen generators and air conditioning parts.

The tariffs will still target cars, including those imported by General Motors Co and Volvo, owned by China’s Geely Automobile Holdings, and electric cars.

And USTR added tariffs on another 284 product lines, valued at $US16 billion ($21 billion), targeting semiconductors, a broad range of electronics and plastics that it said benefited from China’s industrial subsidy programs, including the “Made in China 2025” plan, aimed at making China more competitive in key technologies such as robotics and semiconductors.

Tariffs on these products will go into effect after a public comment period.

Companies can apply for exclusions

A senior Trump administration official told reporters that companies will be able to apply for exclusions for Chinese imports they cannot source elsewhere.

Most semiconductor devices imported from China use chips produced in the US, with low-level assembly and testing work done in China, prompting the Semiconductor Industry Association to call the new tariff list “counterproductive”.

The USTR official said the tariffs were aimed at changing China’s behaviour on its technology transfer policies and massive subsidies to develop high-tech industries.

The US now dominates those industries, but Chinese government support could make it difficult for US companies to compete.

Washington has completed a second list of possible tariffs on another $US100 billion ($134 billion) in Chinese goods, in the expectation that China will respond to the initial US tariff list in kind, sources told Reuters.

-RAW