VOA State Department Correspondent Nike Ching contributed to this report.
WHITE HOUSE — The trade war between Washington and Beijing further escalated Friday.
The United States will add to tariffs on Chinese products, President Donald Trump announced.
Terming China's announcement on Friday of additional tariffs on $75 billion worth of American products "politically motivated," Trump said he was retaliating by increasing the 25% tax on $250 billion in goods from China to 30%, effective Oct. 1.
Additionally, Trump announced on Twitter, the tariffs on the remaining $300 billion of Chinese goods to be imposed on Sept. 1 will rise from the 10% level to 15%.
Hours earlier, Trump declared he was "ordering" American companies "to immediately start looking for alternatives to China" after Beijing announced it was raising tariffs on $75 billion of U.S. goods and resuming 25% tariffs on American autos, in retaliation against Trump's Sept. 1 duty increase.
Trump did not explain under what authority he was making the order to American industry.
In a series of tweets, the U.S. president said the companies should bring their manufacturing home.
Rick Helfenbein, president and chief executive officer of the American Apparel and Footwear Association, said: "This is not how you negotiate. This is a tit-for-tat exercise that is hurting Americans and distracting from the task at hand — creating a sustainable trade agreement that solves long-standing and deep-seated issues."
"The administration needs to rise above the fray and start negotiating for the American people," Helfenbein added.
The escalating trade war unsettled markets on Friday. The Dow Jones industrial average of the New York Stock Exchange closed off more than 620 points, a loss of 2.37%.
Trump also criticized Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Twitter, both before and after he made a closely watched speech at the institution's annual symposium in the state of Wyoming.
Powell indicated that the Federal Reserve, which cut interest rates last month for the first time in a decade, was willing to make another reduction to keep the U.S. economy growing, but he did not specify the amount or the timing of such action.
That angered the president, who tweeted: "As usual, the Fed did NOTHING! It is incredible that they can 'speak' without knowing or asking what I am doing, which will be announced shortly."
The president then added: "My only question is, who is our bigger enemy, Jay Powell or (Chinese Communist Party) Chairman Xi?" Xi is also China's president.
Trump has repeatedly referred to Xi as a friend and touted their relationship as a way to achieve significant breakthroughs on trade and other major issues.
China's commerce ministry, earlier in the day, stated it would be imposing additional tariffs of 5% or 10% on a total of 5,078 products originating from the U.S., including agricultural products, crude oil, small aircraft and cars.
Chinese tariffs on some U.S. products will take effect Sept. 1 and others on Dec. 15.
"America's manufacturing workers will bear the brunt of these retaliatory tariffs, which will make it even harder to sell the products they make to customers in China," according to Jay Timmons, president and chief executive officer of the National Association of Manufacturers.
"While we share the president's frustration, we believe that continued, constructive engagement is the right way forward," said Myron Brilliant, executive vice president and head of international affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "Time is of the essence. We do not want to see a further deterioration of U.S.-China relations."
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow on Thursday said discussions this week between deputy-level negotiators were constructive.
In response to a question from VOA, Kudlow said there were still plans for the Chinese trade negotiating team "to come over here in September."
Analysts are expressing fears that if there is no truce soon in the trade war with China, that could lead to a recession in the United States.
