China warned the United States on Wednesday that it would announce retaliatory measures "in the coming days" after Washington published a list of $50 billion in Chinese products that will face US tariffs.
The commerce ministry said in a statement that tariff proposals were "completely unfounded, a typical unilateralist and protectionist practice that China strongly condemns and firmly opposes".
The ministry echoed a Chinese embassy statement in Washington, which said Beijing would resort to the World Trade Organisation's dispute settlement mechanism, and take "corresponding measures of equal strength and scale against US products" in accordance with Chinese law.
"These measures will be announced in the coming days," the ministry added. "We are confident and capable of responding to any US trade protectionist measures."
The tit-for-tat actions have raised fears of a trade war, rattling global stock markets.
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Asia stocks staged a modest bounce-back Wednesday after recent market jitters but gains were tepid as investors eyed a heating-up of trade rhetoric between the world's two biggest economies.
Tokyo was the top gainer in the region, rising 0.5 percent at the open driven both by a bullish session on Wall Street and a weaker yen, which benefits exporters.
However, the gains quickly evaporated in Japan, and markets in Australia and South Korea were marginally in the red as traders digested the latest volley in a brewing trade war.
The Office of the US Trade Representative issued a list targeting 1,300 Chinese products, including industrial robots and telecommunications equipment. The suggested tariffs wouldn't take effect right away: A public comment period will last until May 11, and a hearing on the tariffs is set for May 15. Companies and consumers will have the opportunity to lobby to have some products taken off the list or have others added.
The U.S. sanctions are intended to punish China for deploying strong-arm tactics in its drive to become a global technology power.
These include pressuring American companies to share technology to gain access to the Chinese market, forcing US firms to licence their technology in China on unfavourable terms and even hacking into US companies' computers to steal trade secrets.
'Donald Trump has unleashed a Hobbesian trade war'
The administration sought to draw up the list of targeted Chinese goods in a way that might limit the impact of the tariffs - a tax on imports - on American consumers while hitting Chinese imports that benefit from Beijing's sharp-elbowed tech policies. But some critics warned that Americans will end up being hurt.