China announced on Wednesday that it will implement a 25 percent tariff on $16 billion in U.S. goods after the Trump administration finalized plans to implement charges on an equal amount of Chinese imports.
The tariffs, first reported by CNBC, will effect crude oil, cars, coal, Vaseline, and plastic products, among other goods.
The latest tariffs announced by the Trump administration, which will go into effect on August 23, bring the total value of Chinese imports taxed at 25 percent to $50 billion.
“This is tit-for-tat exactly,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley FBR, told CNBC of the latest escalation. “Our $16 billion comes at a scheduled time, which comes up on the 23rd. China said we see your $16 billion and we’ll match your $16 billion.”
“They’ll pretty much match what we do until they have no more levers to pull. The bad news is the trade war fears in China are escalating. The major concern right now in trade is China,” Hogan said.
As negotiations have broken down in recent months, Beijing has vowed to respond proportionally and immediately to any protectionist measure imposed by the Trump administration. However, Beijing will be precluded from responding in dollar-for-dollar fashion if the trade war continues due to the existing trade deficit, which Trump has repeatedly vowed to close using tariffs.
Most recently, China announced earlier this month that it will impose tariffs on $60 billion in U.S. goods if President Trump follows through on his threat to tax $200 billion in Chinese goods.
“The implementation date of the taxation measures will be subject to the actions of the US, and China reserves the right to continue to introduce other countermeasures,” the Chinese Ministry of Finance said in a statement at the time. “Any unilateral threat or blackmail will only lead to intensification of conflicts and damage to the interests of all parties.”