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BEIJING (Reuters) -China on Tuesday announced a wide range of measures targeting U.S. businesses including Google, farm equipment makers and fashion brand Calvin Klein's owner, minutes after additional U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods took effect.
The measures were announced as Beijing also slapped tariffs on some U.S. products such as coal, gas and electric trucks in a rapid response to the new duties on Chinese goods imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, escalating trade tensions between the world's two biggest economies.
China's Commerce Ministry said it had put PVH Corp, the holding company for brands including Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, and U.S. biotechnology firm Illumina on its "unreliable entity" list.
It said the two companies took what it called "discriminatory measures against Chinese enterprises" and "damaged" the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies.
Companies added to the blacklist can be subject to fines and a broad range of other sanctions, including a freeze on trade and revocation of work permits for foreign staff.
Separately, China's State Administration of Market Regulation said Google was suspected of violating the country's anti-monopoly law and an investigation was initiated into the company in accordance with the law. It did provide further details on the investigation or on what it alleged Google had done to breach the law.
Google products such as its search engine are blocked in China and its revenue from there is about 1% of global sales.
In 2017, Google announced the launch of a small artificial intelligence center in China. But the project was disbanded two years later and the firm does not conduct AI research in China, according to a blog posting. Google still works with Chinese partners such as advertisers.
Google, PVH and Illumina did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside regular U.S. business hours.
PVH had already been under scrutiny from Chinese regulators over "improper" conduct related to the Xinjiang region.
TESLA AND FARM EQUIPMENT FIRMS
China's Finance Ministry also announced 10% tariffs on farm equipment that could impact U.S. firms such as Caterpillar, Deere & Co and AGCO, as well as a small number of trucks and big-engine sedans shipped to China from the United States.
That could apply to Elon Musk's Cybertruck, a niche offering Tesla has been promoting in China, as it awaits regulatory clearance to begin sales.
China's Ministry of Industry and Information technology designated the Cybertruck as a "passenger car" in a posting in December that was quickly deleted.