US President Donald Trump on Monday walked the talk by implementing his latest round of tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports amid noisy protests from China. On September 18, Trump had announced the US would levy 10 per cent tariffs starting September 24, which would be jacked up to 25 per cent from January 1 next year.
While China did retaliate by slapping tariffs on $60 bn worth of US goods, it was notably muted. Last week, it had called off trade talks with the US in view of the impending tariffs.
On Monday, Beijing blamed ‘bully’ Trump for taking trade disputes to a point of no return by making ‘false accusations’.
“Trump has trumpeted ‘America First’ policy since taking office in 2017, abandoning the fundamental norms of mutual respect and equal consultation that guide international relations,” it said in a white paper published on Monday.
The major reasons behind the Trump administration’s aggressive trade policy are to thwart China’s alleged unfair trade practices and to narrow the $335 billion deficit in bilateral trade between the two countries.
Meanwhile, Indian benchmark indices ended in the red for the fifth straight session on Monday due to a combination of domestic and external factors. And, petrol prices continued to increase crossing the `90 mark in Mumbai on Monday.