Asian stock markets mixed on Tuesday after China decided to return US tariffs on its goods. Beijing has announced it will raise tariffs on US goods worth 60 billion dollars.

China's response to a similar move by Washington last week came after the two sides failed to reach a trade deal. A deep trade war led to selling on Wall Street, pushing the Dow down 600 points.

China's trade policies of the United States threaten the existence of the World Trade Organization

In China's reform proposal to the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Monday, the world's second-largest economy criticized US trade policy, claiming it threatened the very existence of the World Trade Organization. Although the document published on the WTO website does not specifically mention the United States, it includes policies such as "Unjustified tariffs on steel and aluminum products" under the pretext of "national security" closely linked to the administration of President Donald Trump.

The document claimed that the misuse of the "national security exception, unilateral measures not in conformity with WTO rules, as well as the abuse or misuse of existing trade remedies" had seriously damaged the rules-based, free and open international trading system. Such measures "have disturbed the international trading system" while at the same time hampering "natural technology exchanges and applications," he said.

The trade dispute between Washington and Beijing intensified on Monday as China decided to increase tariffs on US goods of $ 60 billion by up to 25 percent from June 1. Earlier, US Treasury Secretary Stephen Menuchin ignored concerns about the future of trade talks as he told reporters that the two countries were "still in negotiations."

Asian stocks close

• The Nikkei 225 average fell 0.75% at 7:42 am CET.
• While the South Korean Kospi rose 0.13% at 7:43 am.
• The Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.25% at 7:52 am CET.
• While the Shenzhen Composite Index fell 0.22% at 7:53 am CET.
• Hong Kong's Hang Sang Index fell 1.55% at 7:54 CET.
• The Australian S & P / ASX 200 finished the day down 0.88% in the red zone.

The greenback was up 0.31% against the yen to sell at 109.645 at 8:01 CET.