The Chinese government announced on Thursday that it would retaliate against US president Donald Trump’s next round of tariffs on Chinese exports, which are scheduled to take effect in September.
While the announcement by China’s State Council was consistent with Beijing’s earlier position that it would always respond in kind to US tariff rises, the statement dashed hopes that Mr Trump’s decision to delay implementation of about half of September’s planned increases until December would pave the way for a constructive round of trade talks next month.
Since last summer, the Trump administration has imposed tariffs of 10-25 per cent on about half of all Chinese exports to the US. The September tariffs, initially set at 10 per cent, will target those products that had not previously been levied.