China vows to respond to the US ‘opening fire’ with tariffs – Reuters

As reported by Reuters, China’s vow to respond to the US’ opening volley of trade tariffs will see a decisive ramping-up of further trade barriers from the US.

Key quotes

“U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to further escalate the trade conflict between the world’s two largest economies with tariffs on as much as $450 billion worth of Chinese goods if China retaliates, as the initial round of tariffs take effect at 12:01 a.m. EDT (0401 GMT) on Friday.  There was no evidence of any last-minute negotiations between U.S. and Chinese officials, business sources in Washington and Beijing said.

Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman Gao Feng said that the proposed U.S. tariffs would hit many American and foreign companies operating in China and disrupt their supplies of components and assembly work.  “U.S. measures are essentially attacking global supply and value chains. To put it simply, the U.S. is opening fire on the entire world, including itself,” Gao said.  “China will not bow down in the face of threats and blackmail and will not falter from its determination to defend free trade and the multilateral system,” Gao added.

China has threatened to respond with tariffs on hundreds of U.S. goods, including top exports such as soybeans, sorghum and cotton, threatening U.S farmers in states that backed Trump in the 2016 U.S. election, such as Texas and Iowa.  Chinese buying of soybeans has already ground nearly to a halt ahead of the duties.”