China vows 'not to sit idly' as Donald Trump orders tariffs on $50bn worth of Chinese imports

The White House has taken a step to restrict Chinese investment and put tariffs on 50 billion US dollars in Chinese imports for stealing technology.

Update - 6.58pm: President Donald Trump has signed an order that paves the way for imposing tariffs on as much as 50 billion US dollars worth of Chinese imports to punish Beijing for what he said is the theft of American technology and Chinese pressure on US companies to hand it over.

"It is the largest deficit of any country in the history of our world," Mr Trump said of the US-China trade imbalance, blaming it for lost American jobs.