Trade war
\nLighthizer accused China of backtracking on commitments in trade talks
\nONLINE
\nWashington
\nUS President Donald Trump said China \u201cbroke the deal\u201d in trade talks, ramping up hostilities ahead of negotiations between the two sides.
\nThe comments come as Beijing said it would retaliate with \u201cnecessary countermeasures\u201d if the US raises tariffs on Chinese products.
\nTrump has vowed to more than double tariffs on $200bn (\u00a3152bn) of Chinese goods on Friday.
\nDespite that, the two sides are due to hold trade talks in the US on Thursday.
\nAhead of the discussions, Trump accused China\u2019s leaders of breaking the deal the US was negotiating on trade.
\n\u201cThey broke the deal… They can\u2019t do that. So they\u2019ll be paying,\u201d Trump told supporters at a campaign rally in Florida.
\nHe said if the two sides don\u2019t make a deal, there was \u201cnothing wrong with taking in more than $100bn a year\u201d.
\nOnly recently, the two sides seemed to be nearing an agreement that would put an end to the trade war.
\nBut on Sunday, Mr Trump said on Twitter the US would hike tariffs on $200bn worth of Chinese goods this week and could introduce fresh tariffs.
\nUS Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer later accused China of backtracking on commitments in trade talks. However, he insisted a deal with Beijing was still possible.
\nTariffs are taxes paid by importers on foreign goods, so a 25% tariff imposed by the US on Chinese goods would be paid by American companies.
\nThe escalation of the trade war has sent waves across financial markets.
\nThe Hang Seng index was down more than 2% and the Shanghai Composite shed nearly 1.5% in afternoon trading on Thursday.
\nThe FTSE 100 lost 0.6% in early trading.
\nLighthizer released an official notice on Wednesday that duty rates on a vast array of Chinese-made electrical equipment, machinery, car parts and furniture would jump to 25% on Friday.
\nTariffs on $200bn of Chinese goods were supposed to rise to 25% from 10% at the start of the year but that was postponed as negotiations advanced.
\nIf they go ahead, the Chinese have said they will retaliate in kind.
\n\u201cThe escalation of trade friction is not in the interests of the people of the two countries and the people of the world,\u201d the Chinese Commerce Ministry said in a statement.
\n\u201cThe Chinese side deeply regrets that if the US tariff measures are implemented, China will have to take necessary countermeasures.\u201d
\nTrump has also said the US could hit another $325bn of Chinese goods with a 25% tariff \u201cshortly\u201d.
\nThe two sides have already imposed tariffs on billions of dollars worth of one another\u2019s goods, creating uncertainty for businesses and weighing on the global economy.
\nThe International Monetary Fund has said the escalation of US-China trade tension was one factor to have contributed to a \u201csignificantly weakened global expansion\u201d late last year as it cut its 2019 global growth forecast.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Trade war Lighthizer accused China of backtracking on commitments in trade talks ONLINE Washington US President Donald Trump said China \u201cbroke the deal\u201d in trade talks, ramping up hostilities ahead of negotiations between the two sides. The comments come as Beijing said it would retaliate with \u201cnecessary countermeasures\u201d if the US raises tariffs on Chinese […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-63364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n