New Delhi: China now faces up to 245 per cent tariffs on imports to the US as a result of its retaliatory measures, according to a White House fact sheet.

This significant increase comes after China ordered its airlines not to take any further deliveries of Boeing jets in response to the earlier US decision to impose 145 per cent tariffs on Chinese goods.

Beijing also instructed Chinese carriers to halt any purchases of aircraft-related equipment and parts from US companies.

“If the US really wants to resolve the issue through dialogue and negotiation, it should stop exerting extreme pressure, stop threatening and blackmailing, and talk to China on the basis of equality, respect and mutual benefit,” foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated yesterday that President Trump is open to making a trade deal with China but believes Beijing should make the first move.

“The ball is in China’s court: China needs to make a deal with us, we don’t have to make a deal with them,” Leavitt told a press briefing, adding that Trump had given her that statement directly in an Oval Office meeting.

“China wants what we have… the American consumer, or to put another way, they need our money,” Leavitt said.

Although Trump has described Chinese President Xi Jinping in admiring terms in the past, neither leader has backed down in the escalating trade war between the world’s two largest economies.

“The president, again, has made it quite clear that he’s open to a deal with China. But China needs to make a deal with the United States of America,” Leavitt emphasised.

The trade conflict has intensified as both nations have been steadily increasing tariffs on each other’s goods since the US initially raised tariffs on dozens of countries.

While China now faces 245 per cent taxes on exports to the US, other countries were given a 90-day reprieve for most duties.