China has vowed to "fight to the end" against the US tariffs imposed by Donald Trump, as another trade war threatens to explode.
Last week, President Trump imposed a blanket 10% tariff on all imports from around the world, with higher rates for certain countries with which the US has a high trade deficit.
He said at the time that any country retaliating with its own additional tariffs would be immediately hit with further levies.
China's rate was set at 34%, rising to 54% on some goods, such as cars, to which Beijing struck back on Friday by imposing a new 34% tariff on the US, beginning on Thursday, 9 April.
Trump then responded late on Monday, after markets in Asia and Europe had tanked, threatening to impose "an additional tariff on China of 50%" by Wednesday this week if China does not withdraw its tariff, lifting its basic rate to 84%.
He accused China of imposing its new tariff "on top of their already record-setting tariffs, non-monetary tariffs, illegal subsidization of companies, and massive long-term currency manipulation".
Trump said talks with China "will be terminated", while negotiations with 50 other countries that have requested meetings "will begin taking place immediately".
On Tuesday, China’s commerce ministry said: "The US threat to escalate tariffs against China is a mistake on top of a mistake, which once again exposes the US’s blackmailing nature. China will never accept this."
"If the US insists on going its own way, China will fight it to the end," the ministry said, per Agence France Presse news agency
"If the US escalates its tariff measures, China will resolutely take countermeasures to safeguard its own rights and interests."
Chinese stocks rebounded, with the Hang Seng rising in Hong Kong after its 13% loss on Monday, though gains ebbed away as the session wore on.
EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen spoke to Chinese premier Li Qiang later on Tuesday, where she called for "a negotiated resolution" to the current situation and emphasised "the need to avoid further escalation".
A readout of the call said that, in response to the disruption already caused by the US tariffs, von der Leyen had "stressed the responsibility of Europe and China, as two of world's largest markets, to support a strong reformed trading system, free, fair and founded on a level playing field".
** Update: Adds details **