China accused the United States of “double standards” on Sunday, after President Donald Trump threatened an additional 100 percent tariff on the world’s second-largest economy.

Trump reignited his trade war with China on Friday, accusing Beijing of imposing “extraordinarily aggressive” new export curbs relating to rare earths. He announced extra levies — plus export controls on “critical software” — due to take effect from November 1, and threatened to cancel a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

On Sunday, China’s Ministry of Commerce called Trump’s tariff threat a “typical example of ‘double standards'”. The ministry said Washington had ratcheted up economic measures against Beijing since September. “Threatening high tariffs at every turn is not the right approach to engaging with China,” it said in an online statement. (AFP)