Trump accuses China of election meddling in trade war

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday accused China of seeking to influence knife-edge midterm congressional elections by taking aim at his political base in the economic giants' rapidly escalating trade war.

The allegation raised the temperature in the escalating dispute after Trump pulled the trigger late Monday on 10 per cent tariffs against another $200 billion in Chinese goods from next week, with a threat of more tariffs on another $267 billion.

Beijing responded by announcing new tariffs on $60 billion of US imports to take effect at the same time.

In a combative series of tweets, Trump, whose Republicans fear losing control of Congress in November, accused China of targeting retaliatory trade measures for political effect.

Accusations of election meddling are especially sensitive, given the political maelstrom over Russia's alleged intervention to support Trump in the 2016 presidential vote.

- AFP