AFP, BEIJING: China and South Korea yesterday day hit out  at a US decision to impose stinging tariffs on imported solar panels and  washing machines, which marked the latest salvo in Donald Trump’s “America  First” drive.

The US president approved the steep tariffs—up to 50 per cent on large washing machines over three years and up to 30 per cent on solar panels over four years—to protect US producers, US trade officials said.

But South Korea, which signed a free-trade agreement with former President George W Bush, immediately said it would file a petition against the US at the World Trade Organization.

The country’s Trade Minister Kim Hyun-chong said the tariffs were ”excessive” and may constitute a “violation of WTO provisions”. Samsung, South Korea’s biggest firm, said the tariffs were “a tax on every consumer who wants to buy a washing machine”.