As Donald Trump continues to flex the United States’ financial power by ordering tariffs on imports, trade partners are gradually figuring out how best to respond to the threats, said observers.
On Monday (Feb 10), fresh tariffs from China kicked in for certain American goods, including 15 per cent on coal and liquefied natural gas, and 10 per cent on crude oil, agricultural machinery and large-engine cars.
Beijing announced the plan mere minutes after sweeping US levies of 10 per cent on all Chinese products came into effect last Tuesday.
Experts said China, after going through a tit-for-tat trade spat during Trump’s first presidency, is prepared this time round, warning that Beijing might retaliate with more than just tariffs.
“China’s clearly got the mid-term to long-term game,” said Alex Capri, a senior lecturer at the National University of Singapore (NUS) Business School.
“When it comes to the broader geopolitical competition between China and the US… (China could) look at things like conducting anti-monopoly type investigations, performing (stiffer) audits of (US) firms in China, and (exerting) export controls and restrictions.”
