President Trump escalated his trade war with China, hiking tariffs to 25% from 10% on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods. The latest increase extends 25% duties to a total of $250bn of Chinese imports. China’s Commerce Ministry said it would impose “necessary countermeasures” but gave no details. Beijing retaliated for previous tariff hikes by raising duties on $110 billion of American imports.
Cooperation for trade
The higher tariffs don’t apply to Chinese goods shipped before May 10. Shipments across the Pacific will take about three weeks before importers have to pay the increased charges. More than 5,700 product categories are affected. Importers absorbed the earlier 10 per cent tariffs, but the latest U.S. increase is expected to be passed on to American consumers.
