The White House has criticised China for imposing tariffs against a range of goods imported from the US. Tariffs on US imports were announced yesterday (03 April) by China.

Beijing said, by introducing tariffs of up 25% on 128 food items imported from the US, they intend to safeguard local interests.

US stocks plummeted on the news of the retaliatory tariffs for fears of the beginning of a trade war between two superpowers. The S&P 500 lost a net of 2.2% and the Dow Jones dropped 1.9%. Japans Nikkei traded 1.5% down on opening on Tuesday (03 April).

Following Chinese decision of imposing tariffs, the Trump administration has accused China of “distorting global markets”.

The trade war began after the US imposed a tariff on all steel and aluminum imports with the intention of protecting the US manufacturers.