The Chinese move came after Washington accused Beijing of manipulating its currency as China lets the yuan drop to its lowest point in more than a decade.

China imported more than 9 billion USD of US farm produce in 2018 - mainly soybeans, dairy, sorghum and pork - down from 19.5 billion USD in 2017, according to the American Farm Bureau. Tariffs imposed by China on US soybeans have slashed exports of the most valuable US crop and forced Trump's administration to compensate farmers for two years with combined spending of as much as 28 billion USD.

President Trump earlier vowed to impose 10 per cent tariffs on the remaining 300 billion USD worth of Chinese imports from Sep 1.