Washington/Beijing — China condemned the US on Wednesday as the Trump administration pushed ahead with plans to slap tariffs on about $50bn of Chinese industrial and hi-tech products, and vowed imminent countermeasures in the escalating trade dispute. Hours earlier, the US government unveiled a detailed breakdown of about 1,300 Chinese industrial, transport and medical goods that could be subject to 25% duties, ranging from light-emitting diodes to chemicals and machine parts. The move, broadly flagged last month, is aimed at forcing Beijing to address what Washington says is deeply entrenched theft of US intellectual property and forced technology transfer from US companies to Chinese competitors — charges Chinese officials deny. China’s commerce ministry said it "will soon take measures of equal intensity and scale against US goods", and Beijing’s ambassador to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Zhang Xiangchen, urged members to "join with China in firmly resisting US protectioni...

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