China has defiantly warned it is ready to fight any “type of war” with the US as tensions escalate between the two mighty economies over tit-for-tat tariffs.

“If war is what the US wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war or any other type of war, we’re ready to fight until the end,” said China’s foreign affairs ministry.

US President Donald Trump’s new duties on Chinese goods took effect this week, sparking a trade war that could slam economic growth and raise prices for Americans.

Tariffs of 25 per cent were also invoked against Canada and Mexico, triggering retaliatory tariffs from Canada and threats from Mexico.

China responded immediately, announcing additional tariffs of 10 per cent to 15 per cent on certain US imports from March 10 and export restrictions for designated US entities.

Later it raised complaints about the US tariffs with the World Trade Organisation.

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The 20 per cent tariff on Chinese imports will apply to several key electronics categories untouched by previous duties, including smartphones, laptops, video game consoles, smart watches and speakers and Bluetooth devices.

An extra 10 per cent duty on Chinese goods took effect on Tuesday, adding to a 10 per cent tariff imposed by Trump on February 4 and stacking on top of tariffs of up to 25 per cent imposed on Chinese imports during Trump’s first term.

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Tariffs on some of these products increased sharply under former US president Joe Biden in 2024.

China’s retaliatory tariffs targeted a wide range of US agricultural products, including certain meats, grains, cotton, fruit, vegetables and dairy products.

In a speech to the US Congress on Wednesday (AEDT), Trump said further measures would follow on April 2, including “reciprocal tariffs” and non-tariff actions aimed balancing out years of trade imbalances.

“Other countries have used tariffs against us for decades, and now it’s our turn,” Trump said, citing high duties imposed on US goods by India, South Korea, the European Union and China.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said US officials had spoken with counterparts in Mexico and Canada and might still work out a partial resolution with the two neighbours, adding that they needed to do more on the fentanyl front.

“I think there’ll be some movement. It will not eliminate the tariffs… but it might modify the tariffs somewhat,” he said, pointing to a decision on Wednesday.

Trump hailed his tariff agenda, his efforts to curb the fentanyl overdose crisis during his Congress speech.

Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada would impose tariffs on another C$125 billion of US goods if Trump’s tariffs were still active in 21 days. That is likely to include motor vehicles, steel, aircraft, beef and pork.

Canada also will challenge the US tariffs under rules of the WTO and the US-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement.

“They’ve chosen to launch a trade war that will, first and foremost, harm American families,” Trudeau said of the Trump administration.

Trudeau said that he believed Trump instead wanted to weaken the Canadian economy to the point where Ottawa would consider annexation by the US.

The tariffs were already sparking some US price increases, running counter to Trump’s election vow to bring down living costs for Americans.

American farmers were hard hit by Trump’s first-term trade wars, which cost them about $US27 billion in lost export sales and conceded their share of the Chinese market to Brazil.

The tariffs could halt years of surprising resilience for US growth.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s GDPNow model showed a stunning shift to a 2.8 per cent US GDP contraction in the first quarter, from a 2.3 per cent estimated growth last week.