CHINA announced Friday that it will impose a 34% tax on all U.S. imports, part of a flurry of retaliatory measures to U.S. President Donald Trump’s new tariffs that delivered the strongest response yet from the Chinese Government to the American leader’s trade war. The tariffs taking effect Thursday match the rate that Trump ordered imposed on Chinese products flowing into the United States. In February and March, Trump slapped two rounds of 10% tariffs on Chinese goods. The U.S. stock market plunged Friday following China’s retaliatory moves. They include more export controls on rare earth minerals and a lawsuit at the World Trade Organization over what Trump has dubbed reciprocal tariffs. China also suspended imports of sorghum, poultry and bonemeal from six U.S. companies, added 27 firms to lists of companies facing trade restrictions, and launched an anti-monopoly investigation into DuPont China Group Co., a subsidiary of the multinational chemical giant. The Chinese Commerce Ministry said it would impose more export controls on rare earths — materials used in high-tech products such as computer chips and electric vehicle batteries. Included in the list was samarium and its compounds, which are used in aerospace manufacturing and the defense sector. Another element called gadolinium is used in MRI scans. China’s customs administration said it had suspended imports from two U.S. poultry businesses after officials detected furazolidone, a drug banned in China, in shipments from those companies. It said it found high levels of mold in the sorghum and found salmonella in the bonemeal feeds from four other U.S. companies. The Chinese Government said it also added 16 U.S. companies to the export control list, subjecting them to an export ban of dual-use products. Among them are High Point Aerotechnologies, a defense tech company, and Universal Logistics Holding, a publicly traded transportation and logistics company. An additional 11 U.S. companies were added to the unreliable entity list, including the American drone makers Skydio and BRINC Drones, banning them from import and export activities as well as making new investments in China. In announcing its WTO lawsuit, the Commerce Ministry said Trump’s new tariffs move “seriously violates WTO rules, seriously damages the legitimate rights and interests of WTO members, and seriously undermines the rules-based multilateral trading system and international economic and trade order.” The ministry called the tariffs “a typical unilateral bullying practice that endangers the stability of the global economic and trade order.” In February, in response to Trump’s first 10% tariff, China announced a 15% tariff on imports of coal and liquefied natural gas products from the U.S. It separately added a 10% tariff on crude oil, agricultural machinery and large-engine cars. A month later, China responded to Trump’s second round with additional tariffs of up to 15% on imports of key U.S. farm products, including chicken, pork, soy and beef. Now, dozens of U.S. companies are subject to controls on trade and investment, while many more Chinese companies face similar limits on dealings with U.S. firms. While friction on the trade front has been heating up, the two sides have maintained military dialogue. U.S. and Chinese military officials met Wednesday and Thursday in Shanghai to minimize the risk of trouble, both sides said. (SD-Agencies) | 