US businesses responded with alarm to President Donald Trump’s announcement of wide-ranging tariffs on imports from China, warning that they would raise costs for American consumers and risked provoking a damaging trade war.
Business groups from a range of industries expressed a common view: they shared Mr Trump’s concerns about intellectual property violations and unfair trading practices by China but thought his decision to use tariffs to address the problem would be counter-productive.
One of the strongest responses to the plans came from the National Retail Federation, which said the tariffs would “punish ordinary Americans for China’s violations”.