2018.05.2922:01:00UTC+00U.S. to Push Through with Trade Actions against China

The White House said on Tuesday that it still holds the threat of hitting $50 billions of imports from China with heavy tariffs and will push through with the trade actions unless Beijing tackled the issue of theft of American intellectual property.

Washington also said it will implement restrictions on investment by Chinese companies in the U.S. as well as export controls for goods exported to China, according to a statement released by White House.

Details of the investment and export restrictions will be publicized by June 30 and the finalized tariff list will be released by June 15.

The announcement by the U.S. on Tuesday echoed comments by administration officials that both the tariffs and the restrictions continued to be in place even after the U.S. and China outlined a deal this month to reduce China's $375 billion trade surplus with the U.S.

A list of possible tariff targets has already been released by the U.S. Trade representative and it mostly includes intermediate goods utilized by firms to make other products as well as other consumer goods.

Despite Washington not rolling back its threat of tariffs on Chinese goods, Beijing responded responded aggressively to the announcement, stating it was surprised by the statement and defend its interests.

Threats of a trade war between the U.S. and China had roiled financial markets, although now most economists believe te two will manage to prevent a major economic dispute.

China has repeatedly said that it will continue with its development of high-tech industries and will not recoil from what it perceives as threats from Washington.