China has confirmed tariffs on $16 billion (€13.5bn) of US imports, in a tit-for-tat response to the latest US tariffs on Chinese goods.

Yesterday, the Trump administration confirmed that a 'second tranche' of previously-announced tariffs will be coming into force from August 23rd - following on from the $34bn (€29bn) of tariffs which came into force last month.

279 products will be hit with a 25% tariff, encompassing a range of industrial, agricultural and transport goods.

In response, China has published its own list of 333 US goods now set to be hit with additional duties.

In a statement, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce claimed the US is 'unreasonably favouring domestic law over international law'.

The spokesperson added: "In order to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests and the multilateral trading system, the Chinese side has to take the necessary counter-measures."

It marks a further escalation of the ongoing trade war between the world's two largest economies.

The US has already threatened to slap a 25% tariff on $200bn (€172.7bn) worth of Chinese goods - while Trump has already suggested he's 'ready' to hit virtually all Chinese imports with tariffs.

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has called on Beijing "to stop its unfair practices, open its market, and engage in true market competition".

Chinese state media, meanwhile, has continued slamming the US for imposing the tariffs.

In comments quoted by the South China Morning Post, an editorial on newspaper front pages stated: “Unwilling to see the lion awaken and the dragon in flight, or to witness 1.3 billion people lead happy lives, some people have taken the approach of unilateralism, protectionism, and trade bullying.

“These are challenges that cannot be avoided, and must be dealt with.”