US-China trade war tensions escalate with reciprocal tariffs
Tensions between the US and China climbed close to boiling point over the weekend as China responded to President Donald Trump’s tariffs with extra custom duties of its own.
Accusing China of stealing intellectual property from US technology companies, on Friday Trump promised to impose a 25 per cent tariff on $50bn (£37.6bn) of Chinese goods that contain “industrially-significant technologies”.
“This includes goods related to China’s Made in China 2025 strategic plan to dominate the emerging high-technology industries that will drive future economic growth for China, but hurt economic growth for the United States and many other countries,” the US President said.
China’s foreign ministry vowed to retaliate with tariffs “of the same scale and intensity” on US goods, claiming the White House had “ignited a trade war”.
“China doesn’t want a trade war. However, confronted by such short-sighted act that hurts both the US itself and others, China has no choice but to fight back forcefully,” foreign ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said.
Read more: China hits back at Donald Trump with its own tariffs on US goods
Its own 25 per cent tariffs will also total $50bn, and cover 659 US products, including cars, soybeans and seafood.
Chinese state media attacked Trump’s decision, with the official Xinhua news agency writing in an editorial: “The wise man builds bridges, the fool builds walls.”
The White House said Trump’s long-threatened move to plaster extra taxes on exports from China is designed to stop US products and designs from falling into Chinese hands. Trump sees the country as the US’s greatest economic rival.
It marks a more aggressive approach to foreign industries under Trump, who even issued a presidential order in March to block Singapore-based Broadcom’s proposed takeover of chip maker Qualcomm, saying the bid “threatens to impair the national security of the United States”.
Trump has also hit Canada’s steel and aluminium exports with tariffs, citing national security concerns. In return Canada has imposed tariffs worth $12.6bn on the US.
The US President hit the EU’s steel and aluminium exports with tariffs last month, with the European Commission voting for a “measured and proportionate response” targeting €2.8bn of US products likely to start from late June or early July.
Read more: Trump confirms he will slap tariffs on $50bn worth of Chinese goods