hina now faces tariffs of up to 245 per cent on import of goods into the United States "as a result of its retaliatory actions", the White House said Tuesday afternoon (India time) as the trade war between the two countries appears to run further and further off road.

The announcement came as Donald Trump authorised an investigation into "national security risks posed by the US' reliance on imported, processed critical minerals", which includes cobalt, lithium, and nickel, and rare-earth metals used to manufacture batteries, such as those used in electric vehicles.

The order points out the US is "dependent on foreign sources... at risk of serious, sustained, and long-term supply chain shocks", and this dependence "raises potential for risks to national security".

Until now tit-for-tat tariff exchanges had seen the US levy a 145 per cent tax on Chinese imports and China slap a 125 per cent duty on American goods.

There is, however, some confusion about the tariff on China being ramped up by 100 per cent.

It appears - and the US has not confirmed this as yet - that the 245 per cent mentioned by the White House refers to the total amount of tax that can be levied on Chinese goods imported into the US.