China now faces up to 245% retaliatory tariff: White House

Washington | China now faces tariffs up to 245 per cent on imports to the United States due to its retaliatory actions, the White House has said, as the trade war escalated between the world's two largest economies.

Separately in a post on Truth Social, President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that China "just reneged on the big Boeing deal, saying that they will “not take possession” of fully committed to aircraft".

He appeared to be confirming reports that China has asked its airlines not to take deliveries of planes from American aircraft manufacturer Boeing.

In the post, he also vowed to protect the US and its farmers in a trade war with its adversaries, such as China.

In a fact sheet issued on Tuesday, the White House said President Trump signed an executive order launching an investigation into the national security risks posed by US reliance on imported processed critical minerals and their derivative products.

"On Day One, President Trump initiated his America First Trade Policy to make America's economy great again," it said.

"More than 75 countries have already reached out to discuss new trade deals. As a result, the individualized higher tariffs are currently paused amid these discussions, except for China, which retaliated," it said.

"China now faces up to a 245% tariff on imports to the United States as a result of its retaliatory actions," the fact sheet said, without giving details.

China is the only country to have retaliated with tit-for-tat levies.

China on Friday raised its additional tariffs on imports from the US to 125 per cent in retaliation to the Trump administration's 145 per cent levies on Chinese exports. China also filed a lawsuit with the WTO following the US tariff hikes.

China earlier retaliated with 84 per cent levies and imposed restrictions on imports of some US films, expressing its interest in holding dialogue with Washington to resolve the issue.

The fact sheet accused China of banning exports to the US of gallium, germanium, antimony, and other key high-tech materials with potential military applications.

"Just this week, China suspended exports of six heavy rare earth metals, as well as rare earth magnets, in order to choke off supplies of components central to automakers, aerospace manufacturers, semiconductor companies and military contractors around the world," it added.

According to the fact sheet, processed critical minerals and their derivative products are key building blocks of Amercia's defence industrial base and integral to applications such as jet engines, missile guidance systems, advanced computing, radar systems, advanced optics, and secure communications equipment.

"The United States remains heavily dependent on foreign sources, particularly adversarial nations, for these essential materials, exposing the economy and defence sector to supply chain disruptions and economic coercion," it added.

Trump has paused the additional duties on other nations for 90 days.

On Wednesday, China appointed Li Chenggang, who has decades of experience handling international negotiations and also served as China's ambassador to the World Trade Organization, as international trade representative at the Ministry of Commerce.

The move came after President Trump said the ball was in Beijing's court to work out a deal to end the tariff deadlock.