China blasted US President Donald Trump's tariffs on Friday as a "numbers game" that "will become a joke", as Beijing raised levies on US imports to 125 percent and said it would go no further.

The announcement followed the US move to raise the "reciprocal tariffs" on Chinese imports to 125 percent, bringing the total to 145 percent.

The State Council's Customs Tariff Commission said the US imposition of excessively high tariffs on China seriously violates international economic and trade rules, goes against basic economic laws and common sense, and is nothing but unilateral bullying and coercion.

The commission said even if Washington is to raise tariffs further, it would no longer make economic sense and ultimately go down as a joke in world economic history.

"Given that it's already impossible for the Chinese market to accept US imports at the current tariff level, if the United States imposes further tariffs on Chinese products, China will ignore it," it said.

Washington's duties on Chinese products have "become a numbers game with no practical significance in economics", a spokesperson for the Commerce Ministry said.

The 125 percent tariffs on US goods are up from 84 percent, and will take effect from Saturday.

The Commerce Ministry also said China has filed a lawsuit against the US with the World Trade Organization's dispute settlement mechanism following the latest American tariff hikes.

The countermeasure by Beijing came after US President Donald Trump's latest escalation in a tit-for-tat trade war that he started by singling China out even as he hit a pause on additional tariffs for other countries. (Xinhua/AP)