China retaliates against Trump with investigation into top US tech player

The Chinese government responded to President Trump's newly implemented import tariffs against China by launching an antitrust investigation into Google.

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China has responded to the 10% tariff imposed by US President Donald Trump on imports from China, and according to reports, China has responded with a flurry of retaliation measures, with one including a new antitrust probe into Google. The new investigation is looking into whether Google has violated Chinese antitrust laws, and the investigation was announced only minutes after President Trump implemented the 10% trade tariff.

Notably, Google is quite familiar with antitrust investigation processes as the company has endured probes from the European Union, the UK, and even the US over its business practices. Additional retaliatory measures from China include the newly announced 15% import tariff on US coal and natural gas, along with a 10% tax on oil, agriculture equipment, and large-displacement automobiles.

As for Google, the company has been operating in China since 2000, and in 2006, the company launched the search engine Google.cn, which quickly was censored to comply with Beijing laws. However, in 2009, it held approximately 36% market share, but in the following year, it exited the Chinese market after the company refused to comply with the growingly stringent censorship laws imposed by Chinese regulators.