LONDON, Sept 02 (BBC): The US has imposed fresh tariffs on $112bn (£92bn) of Chinese imports such as shoes, nappies and food.
The new tariffs are a sharp escalation in the bruising trade war, and could cost households $800 a year.
The move is the first phase of US President Donald Trump's latest plan to place 15 per cent duties on $300bn of Chinese imports by the end of the year.
In response, Beijing began to introduce measures targeting $75bn worth of US goods.
The measures included a 5.0 per cent tariff on US crude oil, the first time fuel has been hit in the trade battle between the world's two largest economies.
What was initially a dispute over China's allegedly unfair trade practices is increasingly seen as a geopolitical power struggle.
So far, Washington has imposed tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of Chinese goods to pressure Beijing into changing its policies on intellectual property, industrial subsidies, market access, and the forced transfers of technology to Chinese firms.
Beijing has consistently denied that it engages in unfair trade practices, and has retaliated with tariffs on a wide range of US products.
It's the American consumer who will bear the brunt of these fresh tariffs, unlike previous rounds which have hit the manufacturing sector hardest.
Nappies, dishwashers, shoes, clothes, food - looking through the 122-page list of eligible products, it's hard to find something that's not on there.
Many retailers say they have little choice but to pass on the cost to shoppers.
The president of the American Apparel and Footwear Association, Rick Helfenbein, describes the tariffs as like "punishing your daughter for something your son did. It makes no sense".
The next round of tariffs on more clothes and big-ticket items like laptops and iPhones are due in December. Mr Trump says this will help to protect spending during the Christmas season.
By the end of the year, they'll be in place on almost all goods that the US buys every year from China.
And that could add up to $800 to the average household's annual spend, according to Katheryn Russ from the University of California.
Businesses are finding it increasingly hard to navigate the uncertainty of the long-running trade dispute.
Analysts say that in view of the latest escalation, the prospect of a resolution looks grim.
"It's difficult at this stage to see how there can be a deal or at least a good deal," Julian Evans-Pritchard, a senior China economist at Capital Economics, told the BBC.
