The News
China introduced more retaliatory tariffs against the US Monday, hitting $22 billion worth of US products, primarily from the farming sector, as an escalating trade war expands.
US soya beans, pork, beef, and sea food were all hit with 10% duties, while cotton, chicken, and corn will be charged an additional 15%.
The tariffs will be felt most acutely in the US’ farming heartland, where many rural communities voted for US President Donald Trump.
The announcement comes after Trump declined to rule out that his policies would lead to a recession this year, as investors grow increasingly wary of the country’s economic outlook.
Trump told Fox News that a “period of transition” will eventually lead to growth, downplaying concerns and threatening more tariffs against Washington’s trading partners.
Markets are less optimistic: Treasury bond yields have declined, manufacturing activity has contracted, expectations of further interest rate cuts have risen, and small businesses are planning more job cuts.
That said, many analysts think a 2025 recession remains unlikely, and Trump’s approach has no modern precedent, making long-term impacts hard to predict, The Wall Street Journal’s James Mackintosh wrote: But “confidence matters, and this isn’t a good way of boosting animal spirits.”