China Sets Tariffs on US Goods in Retaliation of US Tariffs

After US President Donald Trump imposed a 10% tariff on Chinese imports, China's finance ministry swiftly responded with a package of duties on a variety of US goods. 10% tariffs on crude oil, farm equipment, pickup trucks, and heavy displacement cars were levied by China, while 15% duties were placed on US coal and liquefied natural gas (LNG). Tariffs will go into force on February 10.

Trump agreed to a 30-day halt on Monday in exchange for border and criminal enforcement concessions with Mexico and Canada, reversing his last-minute threat of 25% tariffs on the two neighbors.

Trump will not speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping until later this week, according to a White House official.

Due to China's enormous US trade surplus, Trump launched a vicious two-year trade war with it during his first term in 2018. Tit-for-tat tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of commodities disrupted global supply chains and hurt the global economy.

According to Chinese customs statistics revealed last month, China committed in 2020 to spend an additional $200 billion annually on US goods in order to stop that trade war. However, the COVID-19 outbreak delayed the plan, and the country's yearly trade gap has since grown to $361 billion.

While claiming that fentanyl is America's problem, China has kept the door open for negotiations and stated that it will contest the levies in the World Trade Organization and take other steps.