US President Donald Trump is mulling fresh tariffs on billions of dollars in Chinese imports, aiming in particular at the tech and telecommunications sector, according to media reports.

The White House is currently eyeing a hundred different Chinese products, a person with knowledge of internal discussions told AFP, stressing that the dollar value had not been settled on.

Trade war fears sent US stocks diving on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down more than 300 points, or 1.3 percent, shortly after 1600 GMT.

Lawmakers and industry representatives say fresh restrictions will invite retaliation that could see US exporters suffer.

At a meeting last week, Trump told Cabinet members and aides that he wanted to hit China hard over its alleged theft of American intellectual property, according to Politico, which cited three people with knowledge of the matter.

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer proposed a package of $30 billion in tariffs but Trump instructed Lighthizer to go higher, Politico reported.

The US trade deficit with China ran to a record $375 billion last year but US exports to the country were also at a record.

Trump on Thursday announced steep tariffs on steel and aluminum but provisionally exempted Canada and Mexico, two of the largest US suppliers who are currently participating in talks with Washington to revamp the North American Free Trade Agreement.

The same day, Trump announced talks with Beijing on reducing the US trade deficit by $100 billion, adding that Chinese officials had been "very helpful" and that Washington would reduce the bilateral deficit "one way or another."

Beijing has repeatedly warned it will respond to hostile US trade measures and has launched an anti-dumping investigation into US imports of sorghum and has not ruled out measures on soy beans.

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Allies, rivals alike hit out at Trump trade tariffs
Beijing (AFP) March 9, 2018
United States trading partners, led by Asian powerhouses China and Japan, lashed out Friday at controversial tariffs on foreign steel and aluminium signed off by President Donald Trump, as fears grew of a global trade war. Close ally Japan warned the tariffs of 25 percent on imported steel and 10 percent on aluminium "could have a grave impact on the economic relationship" between the world's top and third-largest economies. Japan's top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said the move could har ... read more