China will impose 84% tariffs on imports from the United States, up 50% from the current level, the Ministry of Finance in Beijing said.

U.S. President Donald Trump's latest salvo of tariffs went into effect for dozens of trading partners on April 9, including punitive 104 percent duties on imports of Chinese products, AFP reported.

Beijing has consistently opposed the tariff hikes and said it would take "firm and decisive" steps to protect its interests.

Later, China's finance ministry said "additional tariff rates" on US-origin imports "will rise from 34 percent to 84 percent" as of 12:01 a.m. on Thursday (April 9).

"The escalation of tariffs against China by the U.S. simply piles mistakes upon mistakes and seriously violates China's legitimate rights and interests," the ministry said.

Washington's actions "seriously damage the rules-based multilateral trading system".

In a separate statement, Beijing's Ministry of Commerce said it would blacklist six U.S. artificial intelligence firms, including Shield AI Inc. and Sierra Nevada Corp.

The companies have sold weapons to Taiwan or collaborated with the island in "military technology," the commerce ministry said. | BGNES