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By Mei Mei Chu, Ethan Wang, Shi Bu and Xiuhao Chen
BEIJING (Reuters) -China on Friday struck back at the U.S tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump with a slew of countermeasures including extra levies of 34% on all U.S. goods and export curbs on some rare earths, deepening the trade war between the world's two biggest economies.
Beijing also imposed restrictions on about 30 U.S. organisations, mostly in defence-related industries, adding to the already two dozen U.S companies punished over Trump's tariffs.
Beijing's sweeping retaliation comes after Trump slapped the world's No. 2 economy with additional 34% tariffs on Chinese goods, bringing the total new levies this year to 54%. Trump also closed a trade loophole that had allowed low-value packages from China to enter the U.S duty-free.
"The U.S move is not in line with international trade rules, seriously undermines China's legitimate and lawful rights and interests, and is a typical unilateral bullying practice," China's finance ministry said.
China called the new round of U.S tariffs a "blatant" violation of World Trade Organization rules and have requested consultations at the WTO.
Trump accused China of panicking in a comment on Truth Social.
"China played it wrong, they panicked - the one thing they cannot afford to do!", he wrote on Friday.
MATCHING DUTIES
China's finance ministry matched U.S. duties with additional tariffs of 34% on all U.S. goods from April 10, on top of the 10%-15% tariffs it imposed on some U.S. agriculture goods in March and 10%-15% tariffs on some energy and farming machinery in February.
Agricultural trade took a deeper hit as Chinese customs imposed an immediate suspension on imports of U.S. sorghum from C&D (USA) INC, as well as inbound shipments of poultry and bone meal from three U.S. firms.
China's biggest imports from the U.S. are soybeans, oilseeds and grains, amounting to $13.4 billion in 2024, as well as $14.7 billion of various fuels and $15.3 billion of electrical machinery, according to U.S. trade data.
"With 34% tariff it will not be possible for U.S. agricultural products to enter China. It is an opportunity for other exporters like Brazil and Australia to increase their market share in China," said Ole Houe, director of advisory services at IKON Commodities in Sydney.
RARE-EARTH CURBS
"As the old Chinese saying goes: 'Courtesy demands reciprocity'," said Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson at the Chinese foreign ministry, in a post on Facebook after the announcement of the Chinese countermeasures.