After months of threats and skirmishes, the trade war between the United States and China is about to get serious.
On Friday, the world’s top two economies are due to exchange fire by hitting $34 billion of each other’s exports with steep new tariffs, the first moves in what may become a devastating cycle of retaliation.
The planned measures have already unsettled markets and provoked warnings from companies of damage to their bottom lines and higher prices for consumers.
President Donald Trump and his advisers argue the tariffs are necessary to pressure China into abandoning unfair practices such as stealing intellectual property and forcing American companies to hand over valuable technology.
Beijing denies it’s in the wrong and says it’s ready to fight a trade war until the end.
“The United States will be opening fire on the whole world and also opening fire on itself,” Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman Gao Feng told reporters on Thursday. He warned that the US tariffs will hurt foreign companies that export goods from China to the United States.
Underpinning the dispute about technology is Trump’s anger at America’s $375 billion deficit in goods trade with China. But after three rounds of negotiations between the two sides, including a Chinese