China has retaliated to Donald Trump’s recent wave of tariffs by imposing an additional $60 billion (£56 billion) of imports from the US.
Following the US’s decision to introduce $200 billion worth of tariffs on Chinese goods that will be implemented next week, China announced the tariffs that will affect imports including aircraft and coffee.
Trump announced the latest retaliation on Monday that will apply to almost 6,000 items. The US President warned of a further $276 billion of tariffs if China retaliated.
Trump used Twitter to accuse China of “actively trying to impact and change our election by attacking our farmers, ranchers and industrial workers because of their loyalty to me”.
“What China does not understand is that these people are great patriots and fully understand that China has been taking advantage of the United States on trade for many years.”
“They also know that I am the one that knows how to stop it. There will be great and fast economic retaliation against China if our farmers, ranchers and/or industrial workers are targeted!”
Investors were expecting Trump’s latest tariffs and therefore there was minimal impact on the market.
Chang Wei Liang of Mizuho Bank said: “Given that markets have been bracing for this tariff announcement, we expect a muted rather than dramatic sell-off in Asian equities and currencies today.”
Keith Wade, the chief economist at Schroders, said the tariffs are likely to impact the many US companies that operate in China. Companies include Nike (NYSE: NKE) and Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL).
“Very zealous enforcement of regulations could make life quite difficult for companies. America is also probably more dependent on China than the official trade figures suggest,” he said.
