The US-China trade escalation has no end in sight. Here’s why Beijing’s not backing down
Trump announced a three-month pause Wednesday on all the “reciprocal” tariffs that had gone into effect hours earlier – with one exception, deepening a confrontation set to dismantle trade between the world’s two largest economies. Then on Thursday, Beijing made good on its vow to bring in its own retaliatory tariffs.
The pace of that escalation has been stunning. Over the course of a week, Trump’s tariffs on Chinese imports have jumped from 54% to 104% and now 125% – figures that add to existing levies imposed prior to the president’s second term. And China has retaliated in kind, raising additional, retaliatory duties on all US imports to 84%.