Trump’s trade war begins, and China hits back — sort of
The initial round of tariffs is expected to have little effect, but the danger is that, ‘this will accelerate like a snowball going down a hill’, as one analyst puts it
Beijing — US President Donald Trump fired the biggest shot yet in the global trade war by imposing tariffs on $34bn of Chinese imports. China’s Foreign Ministry said Beijing has already begun implementing tariffs on some US goods in retaliation. China’s Commerce Ministry, in a statement shortly after the US deadline passed at 4.01am GMT on Friday, said that it was forced to hit back, meaning $34bn worth of imported US goods, including autos and agricultural products also faced 25% tariffs. However, the Chinese government stopped short of actually saying it had implemented tariffs, stirring market confusion. Another $16bn of goods could follow in two weeks, Trump earlier told reporters, before suggesting the final total could eventually reach $550bn, a figure that exceeds all of US goods imports from China in 2017. US customs officials will begin collecting an additional 25% tariff on imports from China of goods ranging from farming plows to semiconductors and airplane parts. China’s...
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