PV International Desk : US President Donald Trump threatened on Monday to impose a 10 percent tariff on $200 billion of Chinese goods, prompting a swift warning from Beijing of retaliation, as the trade conflict between the world’s two biggest economies quickly escalated.
In a statement, Trump said he had asked US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to identify the Chinese products to be subject to the new tariffs.
He said the move was in retaliation for China’s decision to raise tariffs on $50 billion 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.
The news sent global stock markets lower and pulled down both the dollar and the Chinese yuan in the offshore market.
China’s commerce ministry said Beijing will fight back firmly with “qualitative” and “quantitative” measures if the United States publishes an additional list of tariffs on Chinese goods, accusing Washington of launching a trade war.
