The US imposed tariffs on $34bn of imports from China at midnight on Thursday, a move that substantially escalates the US-China trade war and one which Beijing has promised to match.

The imports being targeted by the administration of US President Donald Trump in the tariffs are roughly equivalent in value to a month of imports from China, with a 25 per cent import tax applied on 818 products ranging from water boilers and lathes to industrial robots and electric cars. 

Beijing has said it would begin charging a similar tariff on a list that includes soyabeans, seafood and crude oil and on Friday the country’s Ministry of Commerce said on its website that China "has to fight back" immediately after the US tariffs came into effect. China's customs administration said on Thursday that retaliatory tariffs would take effect immediately.