The Trump administration plans to impose 25 per cent tariffs on up to $60bn in annual imports from China, targeting products such as robots and high-speed trains, as the US also ramps up efforts to block Chinese investment in strategic sectors.
In what the White House on Thursday billed as a historic move against “economic aggression”, President Donald Trump unveiled the plans after his government concluded that Beijing had for decades pursued a strategy of unfairly acquiring US intellectual property.
Mr Trump said he was taking the action to address the US’s $375bn trade deficit with China, adding: “It is the largest deficit of any country in the history of our world. It is out of control.”