China strikes back at Trump, retaliating with new tariffs as it 'firmly opposes' US plan

LONDON and HONG KONG -- Chinese officials struck back at the United States on Tuesday, announcing tariffs on select American goods, escalating the prospect of a trade war just days into President Donald Trump's second term.

Some U.S. goods imported into China will be subject to tariffs of up to 15%, Chinese officials said, as they rolled out a series of retaliatory measures to counteract Trump's planned tariffs.

"China firmly opposes the U.S. practice and urges the United States to correct its wrong practices immediately," the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said in a statement.

Officials said they would on Feb. 10 impose a 15% tariff on U.S. coal and liquefied natural gas, along with a 10% tariff on other products, including crude oil, agricultural machinery and pickup trucks.

The move came as the deadline passed for Trump's 10% tariffs on Chinese goods imported into the United States. Trump was expected to sign an executive order on Tuesday putting those tariffs into effect, according to the White House.

Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to talk in "the next couple days," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday. It was unclear whether that discussion would happen prior to the Chinese tariffs going into effect next week.

The leaders last spoke in January, prior to Trump's inauguration, as the U.S. ban on social media app TikTok was set to take effect.

Trump on Feb. 1 announced tariffs against the United States' three largest trading partners, saying he would put in place 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada, along with 10% tariffs on those from China, according to the White House.

Those duties had been expected to be put in place on Tuesday, although Trump and the leaders of Canada and Mexico announced on Monday that Trump's administration had paused plans for both North American trading partners for a month.

China in the days since Trump's announcement had said the tariffs on Chinese exports amounted to a serious violation of World Trade Organization rules, with officials adding that the tariffs were "of a bad nature." The U.S. tariffs were "typical unilateralism and trade protectionism," the Beijing's commerce officials said Tuesday.

China said it had brought the U.S. tariffs to the WTO dispute settlement mechanism.

"The U.S. practice seriously undermines the rules-based multilateral trading system, undermines the foundation of economic and trade cooperation between China and the United States and disrupts the stability of the global industrial chain and supply chain," the Ministry of Commerce said.

China's State Council Tariff Commission released a list of 72 items that would fall under the 10% tariffs. Much of that list was related to agriculture, including several types of tractors, harvesters and other large pieces of farming equipment.

The list of U.S. imports that will be subject to 15% tariffs was far shorter, listing just eight types of coal and natural gas.

Beijing's announcement also included measures against U.S. companies, including Google, which Chinese regulators will probe for possible breaches of anti-monopoly laws.

As Trump introduced the tariffs against Canada, Mexico and China last week, the White House positioned them as a "bold action" that would hold Mexico and Canada "accountable to their promises of halting illegal immigration and stopping poisonous fentanyl and other drugs from flowing into our country."

Canada responded with a threat of tariffs of its own. Mexico announced on Monday a plan to send troops to its border with the U.S., while Canada said it would implement a "$1.3 billion border plan."

U.S. officials also described the tariffs as a point of leverage for the Trump administration against China, pointing to the president's first-term announcement that he would at that time place tariffs on Chinese goods.

During that trade war in 2018 and 2019, "President Trump acted with conviction to impose tariffs on imports from China, using that leverage to reach a historic bilateral economic agreement," the White House said on Friday.

ABC News' Selina Wang contributed to this report.