US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose a 10 per cent tariff on $US200 billion ($A270 billion) of Chinese goods and Beijing warned it will retaliate, in a rapid escalation of the trade conflict between the world's two biggest economies.
Trump's latest move, as Washington fights trade battles on several fronts, was unexpectedly swift and sharp.
It was retaliation, he said, for China's decision to raise tariffs on $US50 billion in US goods, which came after Trump announced similar tariffs on Chinese goods on Friday.
"After the legal process is complete, these tariffs will go into effect if China refuses to change its practices, and also if it insists on going forward with the new tariffs that it has recently announced," Trump said in a statement on Monday.
China's commerce ministry said Beijing will fight back with "qualitative" and "quantitative" measures if the United States publishes an additional list of tariffs on Chinese goods.
"Such a practice of extreme pressure and blackmailing deviates from the consensus reached by both sides on multiple occasions," the ministry said in a statement.
"The United States has initiated a trade war and violated market regulations, and is harming the interests of not just the people of China and the US, but of the world."
US business groups said members were bracing for a backlash from the Chinese government that would affect all American firms in China, not just in sectors facing tariffs.
Jacob Parker, vice president of China operations at the US-China Business Council in Beijing, said China would undoubtedly "begin looking at other ways to enforce action against U.S companies that are operating in the market."
Washington and Beijing appeared increasingly headed toward open trade conflict after several rounds of talks failed to resolve US complaints over Chinese industrial policies, lack of market access in China and a $US375 billion US trade deficit.
US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said his office was preparing the proposed tariffs and they would undergo a similar legal process as previous ones, which were subject to a public comment period, a public hearing and some revisions.
He did not say when the new target list would be unveiled.
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