The tariffs begin on Monday, the finance ministry statement said.
China's Customs Tariff Commission is increasing the tariff rate on pork products and aluminum scrap by 25 percent. It's also imposing a new 15 percent tariff on 120 other imported U.S. commodities, from almonds to apples and berries.
At that time, China said the affected U.S. goods had an import value of $3 billion in 2017 and included wine, fresh fruit, dried fruit and nuts, steel pipes, modified ethanol and ginseng.
The decision to target $3 billion in U.S. imports is significant, but it's widely seen as a drop in the ocean given the size of the bilateral trading relationship. U.S. goods exported to China in 2016 totaled $115.6 billion, according to official data.
While China's response was tied to Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs, it could end up hurting American ranchers and farmers — many of whom are from regions that voted for Trump in 2016. U.S. farmers shipped nearly $20 billion of goods to China in 2017. The American pork industry sent $1.1 billion in products, making China the No. 3 market for U.S. pork.
Beijing could also ramp up its response by adding more goods to the 128-strong list.
"If China can tolerate a large price shock, stemming from the lack of other sourcing countries, or if the domestic market can to some extent be a buffer, it may also extend its measures to a wider set of sectors, such as sub-products in paper, photographic films and cereal," the Natixis note said.
But "more relevant products in terms of value of U.S. exports can hardly be included if China wants to achieve its Manufacturing 2025 targets," it continued, referring to a 30-year plan to boost China's industrial base.
For one, Nobel Prize-winning economist Robert Shiller said, following China's first threat of tariffs on 128 products, that uncertainty about tit-for-tat trade measures could result in an "economic crisis."
"It's just chaos: It will slow down development in the future if people think that this kind of thing is likely," he told CNBC.
Beijing has urged Washington to resolve the matter through dialogue and negotiation.
Reference: CNBC
Thai
Eng