Trump Fires Another Shot in China Trade War

The Trump administration will impose tariffs on $200 billion more in Chinese goods starting next week, escalating a trade war between the world's two biggest economies and potentially raising prices on goods ranging from handbags to bicycle tires. The tariffs will start at 10%, beginning Monday of next week, and then rise to 25% on Jan. 1. President Trump made the announcement Monday in a move that is sure to ratchet up hostilities between Washington and Beijing, the AP reports. Trump has already imposed 25% tariffs on $50 billion in Chinese goods. And China has retaliated in kind, hitting American soybeans, among other goods, in a shot at the president's supporters in the US farm belt.

Beijing has warned that it would hit an additional $60 billion in American goods if Trump ordered more tariffs. If China does retaliate, Trump threatened Monday to add a further $267 billion in Chinese imports to the target list. That would raise the total to $517 billion—covering nearly everything China sells to the US. After a public comment period, the administration said Monday that it had withdrawn some items from its preliminary list of Chinese imports to be taxed, including child-safety products like bicycle helmets. And in a victory for Apple and its US customers, the administration removed smart watches and some other consumer electronics from the list of goods. (The American lobster industry is feeling the pinch of tariffs.)