Beijing, Aug 6 (IANS): China's official newspaper on Monday accused the US President of acting like a street fighter by imposing import tariffs and said Beijing would not surrender to his "extortion".

The attack on Donald Trump comes after Washington and Beijing last week exchanged fresh threats of imposing new tariffs, as part of a trade war kicked-off by the US on July 6, Efe news reported.

An editorial of People's Daily, the mouthpiece of the Communist Party of China, said that the US President was starring in his own "street fighter-style deceitful drama of extortion and intimidation".

The article also said that diplomacy has been reduced to a "trading game in which everything should follow the rule of America first" and that China would not bow down to the "blackmail" and will defend its "national interests and national dignity".

The article indicates a notable rise in China's rhetoric against Trump, although the government maintained a more restrained tone during the first few weeks of the trade war.

They also accused Trump of taking a unilateral path since coming to power, which can be seen from the withdrawal of the US from international pacts and bodies, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Paris Agreement against climate change, the UN Human Rights Council and the nuclear deal with Iran.