What was supposed to be a historic, era-defining trade war launched by US President Donald Trump against a range of countries has, for now, narrowed in on a singular target: China.
On Wednesday, Trump announced a three-month pause on all the “reciprocal” tariffs that had gone into effect hours earlier – with one exception, deepening a confrontation set to dismantle trade between the world’s two largest economies. The pace of that escalation has been stunning. Over the course of a week, Trump’s tariffs on Chinese imports have jumped from 54% to 104% and now 125% – figures that add to existing levies imposed prior to the president’s second term. And China has retaliated in kind, raising additional, retaliatory duties on all US imports to 84%.
The showdown sets up an historic rupture that will not only cause pain for both of these deeply intertwined economies – but add tremendous friction to their geopolitical rivalry.
