Feb 04, Kathmandu- China said on Tuesday it would investigate US technology giant Google for violating antitrust laws after Washington imposed a 10 percent tariff on Chinese goods.

Beijing's State Administration for Market Regulation said the US tech giant was "suspected of violating the anti-monopoly law of the People's Republic of China."

The administration said in a statement that it had "initiated an investigation into Google in accordance with the law." The administration did not provide further details about the allegations against Google.

US tech giant Google's core search engine and many of its services are banned in mainland China, where US internet titans have long struggled to do business due to the "Great Firewall" that blocks politically sensitive content.

In 2011, Google abandoned its Chinese-language search engine on the mainland and moved it to Hong Kong. By 2014, China had also closed the last remaining means of accessing Google's email service, Gmail.

Beijing also said on Tuesday it would add American fashion group PVH Corp, which owns Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein, and biotech giant Illumina to a list of "untrustworthy entities."

China's Ministry of Commerce said in a statement that the move "will safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests in accordance with relevant laws."

"The above two organizations violate the principles of normal market transactions, hinder normal transactions with Chinese enterprises, and adopt discriminatory measures against Chinese enterprises," the statement added.

China said in September it was investigating PVH for what it called an "unjustified" boycott of cotton from the Xinjiang region, a region where Beijing has been accused of widespread human rights abuses.

AFP has contacted all three companies for comment.

The United States announced sweeping measures against major trading partners on Saturday, including an additional 10 percent tariff on goods from China, on top of existing tariffs.

According to Trump, the aim of these measures is to punish countries that fail to stop the flow of illegal immigrants and drugs, including fentanyl, into the United States.