CHINA is raising tariffs on US goods from 84 per cent to 125 per cent with effect from tomorrow, firing the latest salvo in an escalating trade war that has raised fears of a global slowdown.

While US President Donald Trump paused import taxes for other countries this week, he raised tariffs on China, which now total 145 per cent. Beijing has denounced the rises as “economic bullying.”

Washington’s repeated jacking-up of tariffs “will become a joke in the history of the world economy,” a Chinese Finance Ministry spokesman said in a statement announcing the new tariffs today.