Washington/Beijing — US President Donald Trump’s threat to impose a 10% tariff on $200bn of Chinese goods prompted a swift warning from Beijing of retaliation, as the trade conflict between the world’s two biggest economies quickly escalated. Trump’s latest move, as Washington fights trade battles on several fronts, was unexpectedly swift and sharp. It was retaliation, he said, for China’s decision to raise tariffs on $50bn in US goods, which came after Trump announced similar tariffs on Chinese goods on Friday. "After the legal process is complete, these tariffs will go into effect if China refuses to change its practices, and also if it insists on going forward with the new tariffs that it has recently announced," Trump said on Monday. The news sent global stock markets skidding and weakened both the dollar and the Chinese yuan in Asian trade on Tuesday. China’s commerce ministry said Beijing would fight back firmly with "qualitative" and "quantitative" measures if the US publishe...
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