China raises the stakes

CHINA has announced that it will raise tariffs on United States goods from 84% to 125% in the latest salvo in an escalating trade war between the world’s two largest economies that has rattled markets and raised fears of a global slowdown.

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While US President Donald Trump paused import taxes this week for other countries, he raised tariffs on China and they now total 145%.

China has denounced the policy as “economic bullying” and promised countermeasures. The new tariffs begin today.

Washington's repeated jacking up of tariffs “will become a joke in the history of the world economy’, a Chinese Finance Ministry spokesman said in a statement announcing the new tariffs.