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US President Donald Trump's trade war against China has moved up a gear as it brings in a 25% tax on a second wave of goods worth $16bn (£12.4bn).

The move ratchets up the dispute, which had already seen trade tariffs being imposed earlier this year.

China immediately imposed retaliatory taxes on the same value of US products.

What goods are involved?

The tariffs that went into effect on Thursday apply to a vast range of goods in 279 product categories, including semiconductors, plastics, chemicals and railway equipment, and fridges.

China's list of 333 US product categories includes coal, copper scrap, fuel, buses and medical equipment.

The US has threatened a third round of tariffs on an additional $200bn of Chinese goods, which include many more consumer products than the previous lists. These could come as soon as next month.

What effect are these actions having in the US?

Although Mr Trump states his moves will protect US industry and business, dozens of US companies and industry groups have testified to the US Trade Representative's Office that their businesses are being harmed.

Many firms are worried that Chinese retaliatory tariffs will make their products more expensive and reduce demand.

For businesses that rely on Chinese imports, US tariffs also threaten to raise costs, leading to higher prices for US customers.

Some businesses welcome the move, though.

The Southern Shrimp Alliance is glad not to have to compete with Chinese shrimp products. It also says these are a health risk to the American public, so there's an additional benefit to the tariffs here.

And what about in China?

China blames the US and has accused it of "unilaterally" heightening tensions between the two economic giants.

It will be difficult for Beijing to match the US threats because its manufacturers export far more products than American businesses send to China.

But there are other ways that China can respond. Iris Pang, Greater China economist at ING Wholesale Banking in Hong Kong, says it could make life harder for the US to do business in China, by increasing the cost and amount of red tape.

And the rest of the world?

As the BBC's Asia business correspondent, Karishma Vaswani, points out, what hurts Beijing can also hurt countries further afield.

Many goods that are needed for final assembly in China actually come from other South East Asian countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia, and go through Singapore to have some other products added on.

The International Monetary Fund said last month an escalation of the tit-for-tat tariffs could shave 0.5% off global growth by 2020.

Reference: BBC