China Expected to Retaliate Against Trump's Latest Threatened Tariffs

China is expected to retaliate against President Donald Trump’s announcement on July 31 that the U.S. will be imposing a 10 percent tariff on Chinese goods under List 4, according to an Aug. 1 post by Ted Murphy, a Baker McKenzie lawyer. “We expect that China will retaliate … as it has done in the past,” he said.

In his tweet, Trump said the tariff increase was in response to China’s failure to buy “large quantities” of agricultural products from the U.S. A Chinese Foreign Affairs spokesperson said July 31, before Trump’s tweet, that Chinese companies had asked U.S. suppliers about prices for “soybeans, cotton, pork, sorghum and other agricultural products.” The Chinese government was reviewing applications from “relevant companies” that “have applied for the removal of additional tariffs on those agricultural products imported from the US,” the spokesperson said. “This matter will be dealt with following relevant procedures."

The threat of additional tariffs, which Trump said will take effect Sept. 1, will not cause China to fold, said Bill Bishop of the Sinocism China newsletter. “This goes against two of China’s core demands -- sincerity and removal of existing tariffs -- and is humiliating once again to its top negotiators.”