Trade war set to worsen as China’s tit-for-tat tariffs on US goods kick in

It was no deal for the first round of the trade war between Washington and Beijing, with China’s tit-for-tat tariffs on some US$14 billion (S$19 billion) of American goods kicking in right after midnight (US time) on Feb 10. Assoc Prof Hoo Tiang Boon, a US-China relations expert at NTU, told The Straits Times that his suspicion was that China was reluctant to take Mr Trump’s call. “After all, there was already an earlier Xi-Trump call in January. Having another one so soon – which is unusual, and at Trump’s calling – would make it seem China is afraid of US tariffs. Optics-wise, it is not a good look for Xi and China to be singing to Trump’s tune and timeline.” He added that China could be holding back on a potential Xi-Trump meeting, to see whether the US would escalate tensions in the meantime.

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