Driving commercial and political engagement between Asia, the Middle East and Europe
Driving commercial and political engagement between Asia, the Middle East and Europe
Driving commercial and political engagement between Asia, the Middle East and Europe
With the public consultation on President Trump’s proposed tariff increase on Chinese goods closing today, Beijing has fired a new warning to Washington.
“If the US takes new trade measures against China … China will take necessary countermeasures,” commerce ministry spokesman Gao Feng told reporters today.
“The trade war can’t solve any problems,” he added.
The US is on the brink of imposing further 25 per cent tariffs on up to US$200 billion of Chinese goods in a bid to pressure Beijing into reforming its trade practices, the South China Morning Post reports.
President Trump stated last week that he’ll act swiftly upon the conclusion of the public consultation period, which ends at midnight tonight, meaning new measures could be announced as early as this week.
There may be added anxiety in Beijing given the positive overtures emerging from the current NAFTA talks. Reuters reports that a deal to modernise NAFTA “will allow Washington to turn up the heat on Beijing.”
According to Business Insider, the new tariffs “would mark the biggest single escalation of the trade conflict so far.” Reciprocal measures from China, which are almost certain to follow, “would likely push the Trump administration to consider moving towards the president’s ultimate threat: tariffs on all goods coming in from China,” Business Insider reports.
