The first volleys in the latest U.S.-China trade war made clear that Xi Jinping is taking a more cautious approach than during Donald Trump’s first term.
After the U.S. leader gave a last-minute reprieve to both Canada and Mexico, his 10% tariffs on China took effect after midnight Washington time on Tuesday. Within seconds, Beijing announced additional tariffs on roughly 80 products to take effect on Feb. 10, launched an antitrust investigation into Google, tightened export controls on critical minerals, and added two U.S. companies to its blacklist of unreliable entities.
The swift but calculated retaliation signaled that Beijing had learned a lesson from its first trade fight with Trump, when China retaliated with tariffs on par or close to what the U.S. imposed. This time Xi only put tariffs on $14 billion worth of American products, a sliver of what Trump targeted, while taking other measures that showed off China’s ability to inflict further pain on U.S. companies if needed.
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