The sweeping tariffs threatened or imposed by US President Donald Trump risk triggering inflation, market distortions, and even a global recession, China said on Tuesday at the World Trade Organization.

After returning to office on January 20, Trump slapped China, the world's second-biggest economy, with an additional 10 percent levy on products entering the United States.

And Trump signed executive orders last week imposing new 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminium, due to come into effect on March 12.

"The world faces a series of tariff shocks," said Li Chenggang, China's ambassador to the WTO, at the first meeting of the year of the global trade body's decision-making General Council.

"The US has imposed or threatened tariffs on its trading partners, including China, unilaterally and arbitrarily, blatantly violating WTO rules. China firmly opposes such measures.

"These tariff shocks heighten economic uncertainty, disrupt global trade, and risk domestic inflation, market distortion, or even global recession."

Li went on to say that US unilateralism threatened to upend the rules-based multilateral trading system.

"The stakes are high for all members, big or small," said Li.

Imposing punitive tariffs on countries with high trade surpluses with the United States has been at the heart of Trump's economic policy.

He paused 25 percent levies against Canada and Mexico for a month after both countries vowed to step up measures to counter flows of the drug fentanyl and the crossing of undocumented migrants into the United States.

But Trump went ahead with tariffs on China, which imposed retaliatory tariffs targeting US coal and liquified natural gas.

A Geneva-based trade official said Washington in return voiced concerns that China was operating a non-market economic system and habitually breached WTO rules.

"The US highlighted the issues stemming from China's lack of transparency and its disregard for WTO oversight," the official said.

"The US also pointed out that the WTO's current inability to address China's market-distorting policies, such as unfair subsidies, significantly diminishes the organisation's effectiveness." (AFP)