The Trump administration on Tuesday escalated its aggressive actions on trade by proposing 25 percent tariffs on $50 billion in Chinese imports to protest Beijing's policies that require foreign companies to hand over their technology.

On Monday, China raised duties on $3 billion of US pork apples, and other goods in response to higher American import duties on steel and aluminum. Investors bought consumer products companies and other stocks that pay large dividends.

Ross' comments come after China slapped retaliatory duties on a number of American products earlier on Wednesday in response to Trump's planned tariffs on Chinese goods, rattling global financial markets.

Zhu warned against expecting Beijing to back down.

The Ministry of Commerce (MOC) in a statement said that the US' move was "an evident violation" of rules of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

"The U.S. list suggests that the government is targeting the 'Made in China 2025′ initiative, while China's retaliation intends to bring Americans back to the negotiation table", Zhou Hao, an economist at Commerzbank in Singapore, said in an email.

He said the tariffs could open the door for Canada to export more goods to China, which is experiencing growing demand for pork and other products.

He accused the Communist nation of stealing United States intellectual property and applying it to their own technology, before shipping it back to America and undercutting home-grown suppliers.

The first major trade action against China comes at the beginning of the year, when the USA announces a 30% tariff on imported solar panels - most of which come from China - and taxes on large residential washing machines starting at 20%.

"It is unacceptable to ask China alone to cut the deficit by United States dollars 100 billion as the trade gap is determined by market forces and the overall economic policies and structure of the U.S.".

USA automakers could be forced to rethink future production plans for several vehicles if the tit-for-tat tariff dispute brewing between the United States and China erupts into a full-blown trade war.

Presidents Xi Jinping (China) and Donald Trump (US) in Beijing previous year.

Washington's move, broadly flagged in March, is aimed at forcing Beijing to address what Washington says is deeply entrenched theft of USA intellectual property and forced technology transfer from US companies to Chinese competitors, charges Chinese officials deny.

Even some technology groups that are contending directly with Chinese competition expressed misgivings.

"We intend to get along with China, but we have to do something very substantial about the trade deficit", Trump said on Tuesday.

The United States has become increasingly frustrated with China's aggressive efforts to overtake American technological supremacy.

In another warning move, Chinese regulators launched an anti-dumping investigation of US sorghum last month as rhetoric between Beijing and Washington heated up.

In January, a federal court in Wisconsin convicted a Chinese manufacturer of wind turbines, Sinovel Wind Group, of stealing trade secrets from the American company AMSC and almost putting it out of business.

One of the notable casualties of the Chinese tariffs is a U.S. company that's owned by China.

Mounting trade tensions between the US and China could hurt synchronized global growth and have implication for investors.

China will lodge a complaint with the World Trade Organisation. USA companies have until May 22 to raise objections. A quarter of Boeing aircraft are sold to China.

Farm equipment maker Deere lost $4.47, or 2.9 percent, to $148.57, after an early drop of 6.2 percent.

"There is no victor in a trade war, and an initiator will harm itself as well as others".

"The administration is rightly focused on restoring equity and fairness in our trade relationship with China".

Suderman said China does not want to pay $2.50/bu. more for soybeans, because "this would hurt crush/feed margins there, slowing meat production and raising the price for meat and stimulating food inflation".