China said Monday it will impose tariffs on $60bn worth of US goods from June 1, in apparent retaliation after Washington announced plans to tax almost all Chinese imports.

Beijing will hit a number of US imports with tariffs ranging from 5% to 25%, according to a statement by the Tariff Policy Commission of the State Council — China’s cabinet.

The announcement came after the latest round of trade negotiations to resolve disputes between the world’s top two economies ended Friday without a deal.

US President Donald Trump has increased tariffs on $200bn worth of Chinese goods to 25% and ordered the start of a process to impose new duties on another $300bn worth of items.

The response was announced after Trump on Monday warned Beijing not to retaliate.

“China should not retaliate — will only get worse!” the US president wrote in a series of tweets on trade.

But Beijing also appeared to dig in.

“China will never surrender to external pressure,” foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said at a regular briefing on Monday.

Global markets remain on red alert over a trade war between the two superpowers that most observers have warned could shatter global economic growth and hurt demand for commodities like oil. (AFP)