China started imposing retaliatory tariffs at midnight on the 10th in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's 10% universal tariff increase against China.
Earlier, the Chinese government noted that in response to President Trump imposing an additional 10% tariff on Chinese imports at midnight on the 4th (Eastern Standard Time) due to China's insufficient response to the issue of the opioid analgesic fentanyl, it immediately announced countermeasures. This included a 15% tariff on U.S. coal and liquefied natural gas (LNG), and an additional 10% tariff on crude oil, agricultural machinery, large vehicles, and pickup trucks.
On the same day, China also presented various other retaliatory measures, including investigations into Google for antitrust law violations and export controls on minerals such as tungsten and tellurium, as well as sanctions against PVH Corp., the parent company of Calvin Klein, and the biotechnology firm Illumina.
However, while the types of retaliatory measures announced by China were diverse, their impact on the U.S. was evaluated as not as strong compared to President Trump's tariff increase targeting 'all' Chinese imports. Additionally, as China announced its retaliatory measures, there was speculation that negotiations could be agreed upon before the commencement of China's retaliation, as the state-run media expressed a willingness to negotiate within the six-day period until the 10th.
Nevertheless, President Trump indicated that while he delayed the implementation for a month after discussions with Canada and Mexico, which were also targets of the tariff increase, he would 'not rush' talks with China. Meanwhile, China only commented during the Ministry of Commerce briefing on the 6th that it would 'not proactively trigger a trade dispute and is willing to resolve issues through dialogue and negotiations,' without mentioning whether communication is currently taking place.
The Hong Kong South China Morning Post (SCMP) also suggested that President Xi is hesitant to hastily communicate with President Trump.
Previously, during the first term of the Trump administration, the conflict was resolved when the two countries signed the so-called 'Phase One trade agreement' 18 months after the start of the trade war in January 2020. At the time, China agreed to increase purchases of U.S. products by at least $200 billion from 2020 to 2021, and the Trump administration agreed to suspend the imposition of additional high tariffs on a wide range of Chinese goods in exchange for China's increased imports from the U.S.