China imposes retaliatory tariffs on the US, raising trade war concerns

China has imposed retaliatory tariffs on the United States, hitting about $14 billion worth of goods and dashing hopes that a trade war between the world's two largest economies could be averted, the Chinese Embassy in Washington said.

China's measures, which target US liquefied natural gas, coal, crude oil and agricultural equipment, as well as some automotive products with duties of 10 percent to 15 percent compared with the US's across-the-board tariffs, were seen as creating space for negotiations to avert a wider trade conflict.

But there was no news of a deal until the final hour of Sunday, and China's embassy in Washington announced that the tariffs went into effect at 00.01 Beijing time on Monday.

Beijing also announced last week that it had launched an antitrust investigation in China into search engine blocker Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Illumina, a US biotech company. It also blacklisted the holding company of US clothing brands Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger.

China underlined its control over the rare earths supply chain by restricting exports to the US of five critical metals used in the defense industry, solar panels, electric vehicle batteries and other green energy products.

China produces about 60% of the world's rare earths and handles 90% of transactions in the sector.