BEIJING- China is moving forward with its plan to counter President DonaldTrump’s new tariffs on steel and aluminum, levying duties that will takeeffect Monday on more than $3 billion in U.S. exports to the country.In a statement Sunday, the Chinese government said it would impose theretaliatory tariffs on 128 products, according to an informal translation.

China will impose a 15 percent tariff increase on goods including Americanfruit and nuts and add a 25 percent tariff on pork, recycled aluminum andother goods, the government said.

The move to impose the duties comes just over a week after the ChineseCommerce ministry had announced it was considering tariffs on the goods.Just over a week later, those tariffs are taking effect.The move is expected to lead to escalating tensions between the two largetrading nations, leading many to worry that American farmers will becasualties in a tit-for-tat trade war.

The U.S. shipped more than $1 billion of pork products to China last year,making it the No. 3 destination for exports after Japan and Mexico. TheU.S. was China’s top supplier of apples, cherries, walnuts and almonds.Beijing argued in the statement Sunday that it would be imposing the duties“in order to safeguard China’s interests and balance the losses caused by”the steel and aluminum tariffs, which took effect late last month.

It will move forward with the retaliatory measures under the World TradeOrganization’s safeguards agreement, which allows a country, after a periodof consultation, to put in place tariffs to compensate for anothercountry’s export restrictions.

While the Trump administration has said the steel and aluminum tariffs arenecessary to protect national security, Beijing rejected that argument inits statement and said they ran afoul of WTO rules.China’s responses, meanwhile, are “legitimate measures … to use the rulesof the World Trade Organization and safeguard its interests,” the statementsaid.

More tariffs between the two countries are possible in the near future. InMarch, Trump unveiled another set of tariffs, which specifically targetsome $60 billion in Chinese exports in response to what the White House hasdescribed as policies that force American tech companies to cough upintellectual property in order to access the Chinese market. – CNN