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China announced Tuesday the banning of exports to the United States of chemical elements  and other essential high-tech materials, in apparent retaliation for the U.S. limiting semiconductor-related exports.

The country’s Communist-led country announced the ban after the U.S. government expanded its list of Chinese companies whose export of computer chip-making equipment, software and high-bandwidth memory chips are limited, according to the Associated Press.

The trade war between the world’s two most powerful economies escalates after President-elect Donald Trump last week to raise tariffs on imports from China, Canada and Mexico. 

“China has lodged stern protests with the U.S. for its update of the semiconductor export control measures, sanctions against Chinese companies, and malicious suppression of China’s technological progress,” said a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson.