* China July exports +12.2 pct y/y, imports +27.3 pct y/y
* July trade surplus at $28.05 bln, vs June surplus of $41.47 bln
* July trade surplus with U.S. narrows to $28.09 bln
* The U.S. announces additional tariffs on $16 bln of Chinese exports go into effect Aug 23 (Adds economist comment, more details on trade)
By Elias Glenn
BEIJING, Aug 8 (Reuters) - China's exports growth unexpectedly accelerated in July despite fresh U.S. tariffs, while its trade surplus with the United States remained near record highs as Beijing and Washington ramped up a bitter dispute that has rattled financial markets.
Imports also rose much faster in July thanks to still solid domestic demand, official data showed on Wednesday, with purchases of commodities like copper and iron ore rising from June.
The headline numbers are the first readings of the overall trade picture for the world's second-largest economy since U.S duties on $34 billion of Chinese imports came into effect on July 6.
China's closely watched surplus with the United States dipped only slightly to $28.09 billion last month from a record $28.97 billion in June. Washington has long criticised China's trade surplus with the United States and has demanded Beijing cut it. Still, disagreements between the two major economic powers run deeper than just the trade balance and tensions remain over market access, intellectual property, technology transfer and investment.
The United States and China implemented tariffs on $34 billion worth of each other's goods in July. Since then, Washington and Beijing have raised the stakes by threatening more punitive trade measures in an intensifying dispute that has rattled financial markets worried about the impact on investment and growth.
The two sides have shown no signs of letting up, with the U.S. earlier Wednesday saying it will begin collecting 25 percent tariffs on another $16 billion in Chinese goods on Aug. 23, and Chinese media resorting to personal attacks against Trump earlier in the week.
China's July exports rose 12.2 percent from a year earlier, beating forecasts for a 10 percent increase according to the latest Reuters poll, and up from a 11.2 percent gain in June.
A weaker yuan, which marked its worst 4-month fall on record between April and July, may have taken the sting out of 25 percent tariffs on $34 billion exports to the United States. However, analysts still expect a less favourable trade balance for China in coming months given it's early days in the tariff brawl. "Looking ahead, we expect export growth to cool in the coming months, though this will primarily reflect softer global growth rather than US tariffs, the direct impact of which will continue to be mostly offset by the renminbi's (yuan's) recent depreciation," Capital Economics' Senior China Economist Julian Evans-Pritchard wrote in a note.