China Retaliates Against the U.S. With Its Own Higher Tariffs

China’s finance ministry announced on Monday evening that it was raising tariffs on a wide range of American goods to 20 percent or 25 percent from 10 percent, in the first Chinese move to retaliate over President Trump’s broader increase in tariffs on Chinese goods last Friday.

But the finance ministry delayed the implementation of its tariff increase until June 1, a delay of nearly three weeks that allows time for negotiators to make one last push for a deal. The delay roughly matches one that the Trump administration in effect put on its own tariff increase.

Beijing’s retaliation comes at a time when many in China feel that the United States has behaved highhandedly in threatening tariffs. “Mutual trust and respect are of the essence in handling the negotiations,” said Zhu Ning, a Tsinghua University economics professor.

President Trump on Friday raised tariffs on $200 billion a year worth of Chinese goods, particularly auto parts, to 25 percent from 10 percent. He had already imposed 25 percent tariffs last summer on another $50 billion a year of Chinese goods, including a wide range of products that his administration views as strategic, from cars to aircraft parts and nuclear reactor components.

The Trump administration has more tariffs planned. The Office of the United States Trade Representative has said that on Monday, it will issue for public comment at Mr. Trump’s direction a proposal to raise tariffs on “essentially all remaining imports from China, which are valued at approximately $300 billion.”

Because China’s entire imports from the United States are considerably less than $200 billion, it has not had the option of matching the United States dollar for dollar. China had matched last September President Trump’s 10 percent tariffs on $200 billion a year in goods with its own tariffs of 5 percent to 10 percent on $60 billion a year in American goods.