China promises retaliation if Trump raises tariffs

China has threatened to retaliate if US President Donald Trump goes ahead with his plan to increase tariffs on US$ 200 billion worth of Chinese imports from 10% to 25%. Trade delegations from the two countries are scheduled to meet during May 9-10 in Washington, led by Chinese Vice Premier Liu He and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

Over the past few days, US has accused China of reneging on consensus reached in previous rounds of talks. Trade with the US has dropped by 20% YoY to US$ 173 billion during the first four months of the current year. However, China’s trade surplus with the US has increased by 10.5% to reach US$ 84.17 billion.