CHINA/TARIFFS/TRADE DEALS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/WTO: “In a tit-for-tat trade battle with the United States, China’s response has so far been restrained. But that is with good reason: As it waits to see how far President Trump plans to go in imposing sweeping tariffs on China, Beijing knows that it has more effective weapons in its arsenal. China’s Ministry of Commerce said on Friday [3-23-18] that it would impose tariffs on $3 billion worth of American-produced fruit, pork, wine, seamless steel pipes and more than 100 other products. The move was in response to the Trump administration’s announcements that it would apply tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum, and came hours after Mr. Trump said he would impose tariffs on about $60 billion worth of Chinese-made products.
Beijing said it would challenge the penalties at the World Trade Organization, and would carry out its trade restrictions in accordance with W.T.O. rules. Analysts say the latest round of United States tariffs, if imposed, would likely have a minimal impact on the Chinese economy. While Mr. Trump chose confrontational language toward China in announcing his latest move, actual details were sparse and amounted in many ways to a threat as opposed to an actual imposition of tariffs.”
-Sui-lee Wee and Keith Bradsher, “Responding to Trump’s Tariffs, China Shows ‘Cautious Anger’,” The New York Times online, Mar. 23, 2018