China responded to President Donald Trump's order to impose tariffs on Chinese imports into the U.S. by issuing tariffs of its own starting Feb. 10, according to Chinese state media Xinhua.
Xinhua said it will impose a 15% tariff on imported coal and liquefied natural gas originating from the United States. China will also issue a 10% tariff on crude oil, agricultural machinery, automobiles with large displacement, and pickup trucks, Xinhua said.
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Tariffs are an import tax charged to companies when products are crossing international borders. Economists believe companies will tend to pass the cost of tariffs on consumers.
The U.S. on Tuesday began charging companies a 10% tariff on products coming from China. The Trump administration said tariffs are in response to "China’s intellectual property theft, forced technology transfer, and other unreasonable behavior."
The White House had said that it was hoping to use the threat of tariffs to leverage "a historic bilateral economic agreement."
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The Trump administration had also announced tariffs against Mexico and Canada on Saturday, but by Monday, those tariffs were put on hold. The White House said it reached agreements with the two nations to strengthen border enforcement efforts.
