WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has instructed the U.S. trade representative to consider slapping $100 billion in additional tariffs on Chinese goods. 
 
 The move comes a day after China issued a $50 billion list of U.S. goods including soybeans and small aircraft for possible tariff hikes in an escalating and potentially damaging dispute. 
 
 The White House says Trump has instructed the Office of the United States Trade Representative to consider whether $100 billion of additional tariffs would be appropriate under section 301 and, if so, to identify which products they should apply to. 
 
 He's also instructed his secretary of agriculture "to implement a plan to protect our farmers and agricultural interests." 
 
 Trump argues China's trade practices have led to the closure of American factories and the loss of millions of American jobs. ||||| China said on Friday it was ready to pay "any cost" in a possible trade war with the US, after President Donald Trump warned he was considering $100 billion in extra tariffs. 
 
 Financial markets, roiled for days by the trade fight and the US president's management of it, whipsawed again on the new threat. After a bullish regular trading day, US equity futures sold off sharply in after-market-hours trading. 
 
 US stock futures slid 1pc and the dollar dipped against other major currencies, while Asian shares flitted in and out of positive territory. 
 
 “In light of China’s unfair retaliation, I have instructed the USTR to consider whether $100bn of additional tariffs would be appropriate under section 301 and, if so, to identify the products upon which to impose such tariffs,” Mr Trump said in a statement issued by the White House. 
 
 "Rather than remedy its misconduct, China has chosen to harm our farmers and manufacturers," Mr Trump said. ||||| WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Thursday directed U.S. trade officials to identify tariffs on $100 billion more Chinese imports, upping the ante in an already high-stakes trade confrontation between the world’s two largest economies. 
 
 The further tariffs were being considered “in light of China’s unfair retaliation” against earlier U.S. trade actions, which included a proposed $50 billion of tariffs on Chinese goods, Trump said in a White House statement. 
 
 “This is what a trade war looks like, and what we have warned against from the start,” said National Retail Federation President and CEO Matthew Shay. 
 
 “We are on a dangerous downward spiral and American families will be on the losing end,” Shay added in a statement, urging Trump “to stop playing a game of chicken with the U.S. economy.” 
 
 Financial markets, roiled for days by the trade fight and Trump’s management of it, whipsawed again on the new threat. After a bullish regular trading day, U.S. equity futures sold off sharply in after-market-hours trading. 
 
 U.S. stock futures ESc1 slid 1 percent and the dollar dipped against other major currencies .DXY, while Asian shares flitted in and out of positive territory. Chinese markets were closed for a holiday. 
 
 Doug Kass, who runs hedge fund Seabreeze Partners Management Inc, added: “Our president is going to make market volatility and economic uncertainty great again.” 
 
 In his statement, Trump said the U.S. Trade Representative had determined that China “has repeatedly engaged in practices to unfairly obtain America’s intellectual property.” 
 
 The tit-for-tat escalation of tariff announcements, which have stirred fears that trade unfolded surprisingly rapidly . They have stirred fears that the two countries will spiral into a trade war that will crush global growth. 
 
 Chinese state media slammed Trump’s threat of more trade action against China as “ridiculous”. 
 
 “This latest intimidation reflects the deep arrogance of some American elites in their attitude towards China,” the state-run Global Times said in an editorial. 
 
 On Tuesday, USTR proposed 25 percent tariffs on more than 1,300 Chinese industrial and other products from flat-panel televisions to electronic components. China shot back 11 hours later with a list of proposed duties on $50 billion of American imports, including soybeans, aircraft, cars, beef and chemicals. 
 
 “Rather than remedy its misconduct, China has chosen to harm our farmers and manufacturers,” the Republican president said. 
 
 FILE PHOTO: Containers are seen at the Yangshan Deep Water Port, part of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, in Shanghai, China March 14, 2018. REUTERS/Aly Song 
 
 Republican lawmakers from Western and Midwestern states have voiced worries about a big hit to U.S. farming exporters. 
 
 ‘THIS IS NUTS’ 
 
 On the new tariff threat, Republican Senator Ben Sasse said in a statement: “Hopefully the president is just blowing off steam again but, if he’s even half-serious, this is nuts. 
 
 “Let’s absolutely take on Chinese bad behavior, but with a plan that punishes them instead of us. This is the dumbest possible way to do this,” said the lawmaker from the farm-belt state of Nebraska. 
 
 The U.S. Department of Agriculture is looking for ways to assist farmers affected by China’s tariffs, USDA undersecretary Bill Northey told Reuters, but did not offer specifics. 
 
 White House officials have suggested throughout the week that talks with the Chinese could help resolve trade issues between the two countries. China ran a $375 billion goods trade surplus with the United States in 2017. Trump has demanded that China cut the trade gap by $100 billion. 
 
 A senior U.S. official who requested anonymity told Reuters no formal negotiating sessions had yet been set, but that the United States was willing to negotiate with China. 
 
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 The U.S. tariffs are aimed at forcing changes to Chinese government policies designed to transfer U.S. intellectual property to Chinese companies and allow them to seize leadership in key high-technology industries of the future. 
 
 The USTR’s “Section 301” investigation authorizing the tariffs alleges China has systematically sought to misappropriate U.S. intellectual property through joint venture requirements that often cannot be negotiated without technology transfers, something China denies. 
 
 TARIFF TARGETS NOT YET CHOSEN 
 
 A USTR spokeswoman said that the $100 billion second-round of potential tariffs had not been determined yet and would be selected by USTR career staff - not political appointees - along with economists and trade experts. 
 
 The new list will be proposed in the same manner as the first round and will go through a similar public comment period before any of them are activated, the spokeswoman said. 
 
 A further $100 billion in tariffs on Chinese goods would likely expand the scope of Trump’s attack to more consumer goods. The first round of $50 billion in tariffs mostly targeted industrial goods and electronic components. 
 
 The two biggest categories of U.S. imports from China last year were communications and computer equipment, totaling $137 billion according to U.S. Census data. Cellphones and computers, key portions of these categories, were spared from the initial tariffs list. 
 
 Apparel and footwear, both labor-intensive industries in China, made up a combined $39 billion in U.S. imports. 
 
 Dean Garfield, chief executive of the Information Technology Industry Council, a tech industry lobbying group in Washington, said the additional tariffs were “irresponsible and destabilizing.” 
 
 “We need the U.S and China to come to the table and identify solutions to these serious problems,” he added.
– "This is what a trade war looks like, and what we have warned against from the start," said National Retail Federation President Matthew Shay after President Trump threatened tariffs on another $100 billion in Chinese goods on Thursday. The White House says Trump has directed trade officials to identify products to be slapped with tariffs "in light of China’s unfair retaliation" to his earlier round of proposed tariffs, the AP reports. "Rather than remedy its misconduct, China has chosen to harm our farmers and manufacturers," Trump said in a statement, referring to Beijing's proposed tariffs on $50 billion on US imports. Shay warned that we are on a "dangerous downward spiral" that will hurt American families and urged Trump "to stop playing a game of chicken with the US economy," reports Reuters. China warned that it would respond with more tariffs of its own, the Telegraph reports. China "will follow suit to the end, not hesitate to pay any price, resolutely counterattack, and take new comprehensive measures in response," the country's Commerce Ministry said in a statement. The Wall Street Journal notes that if China slaps tariffs on another $100 billion in US goods, it will bring an end to the tit-for-tat tariff threats: The tariffs would cover $150 billion in goods but US exports to China only totalled $130 billion last year, compared to more than $500 billion in Chinese exports to the US. In his statement, Trump—who is being heavily criticized by some of his fellow Republicans over the confrontation with Beijing—left the door open to talks aimed at "achieving free, fair, and reciprocal trade."