{"id":125222,"date":"2025-02-04T09:08:32","date_gmt":"2025-02-04T09:08:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/trade-war-latest-china-hits-back-in-minutes-against-trumps-tariffs-and-takes-aim-at-google-sky-news\/"},"modified":"2025-02-04T09:08:32","modified_gmt":"2025-02-04T09:08:32","slug":"trade-war-latest-china-hits-back-in-minutes-against-trumps-tariffs-and-takes-aim-at-google-sky-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/trade-war-latest-china-hits-back-in-minutes-against-trumps-tariffs-and-takes-aim-at-google-sky-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Trade war latest: China hits back in minutes against Trump's tariffs – and takes aim at Google – Sky News"},"content":{"rendered":"

The world’s biggest two economies have exchanged trade war blows this morning – at 5am Donald Trump imposed tariffs on Chinese imports and within minutes China hit back with levies of its own. Follow the latest below – and listen to the latest episode of Trump 100 as you scroll.
Tuesday 4 February 2025 08:43, UK
By Sarah Taaffe-Maguire<\/a>, business reporter<\/b>
China’s tariff retaliation has already affected Asian stock markets as news of the levies broke during trading hours. There was already a lot for investors to digest through Asian trading as the trade war trundled on.
Trump was going ahead with 10% tariffs on China, having paused his taxes on Mexican and Canadian imports. 
The pause was welcomed by stock markets in Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and Australia, some of whom came close to recovering Monday losses.
Then came the news of China’s retaliation – and those recoveries were dented. 
At the end of trading for Korea and Japan their stock markets were up but not enough to recoup yesterday’s losses. Korea’s benchmark, the Kospi, was up 1.13% and Japan’s Nikkei gained 0.72%. Both are export economies and can be affected by a global trade war.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index, containing Chinese companies, can give us a sense of how the Chinese market may be affected – it gained 2.5%. Chinese markets remain closed for Lunar New Year.
China is Australia’s biggest trading partner and on the news of Chinese tariff retaliation, the S&P\/ASX 200 index lost all its gains and closed down 0.06%.
Among China’s trade moves against the US, it has added Calvin Klein’s owner and a US biotech company to its unreliable entity list.
China’s commerce ministry said PVH Corp, the holding company for brands including Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, and Illumina have taken “discriminatory measures against Chinese enterprises”.
Companies on the blacklist can be subject to fines and a broad range of other sanctions.
This includes a freeze on trade and revocation of work permits for foreign staff. 
Chinese law says firms can be added to the list if they endanger China’s sovereignty, national security, or development interests, suspend normal transactions or apply discriminatory measures against Chinese enterprises.
PVH had already been under scrutiny from Chinese regulators over what they called “improper” conduct related to the Xinjiang region.
China has one message to send the US this morning after imposing retaliatory tariffs – that they won’t take Trump’s trade war “lying down”, says Asia correspondent Nicole Johnston<\/a> in Nansha Port, Guangzhou.
“Up until this point, they had been relatively restrained in the language that they had used towards the US, now they’re getting stronger,” she says.
“They’ve said that it is in bad nature, that it is trade protectionism and unilateralism.”
There are still a few days until the Chinese tariffs take effect on 10 February, before which there could be “an intervention, or a grand deal or a temporary reprieve”, adds Johnston.
If not, China’s commerce ministry said the country would impose export controls on tungsten, tellurium, ruthenium, molybdenum and ruthenium-related items.
“This is something that China has done before,” Johnston says.
“It has a real grip on these critical minerals, which are essential for producing things like mobile phones and laptops, something that the entire world needs.”
China’s threat of a 15% levy on liquified natural gas “probably won’t have an immediate effect” because the product is normally sold on long-term contracts.
“What this is all about is really the message that China is trying to deliver to the US – and it is clear,” Johnston says.
“China is saying it is not going to take this 10% tariff that Donald Trump has imposed on China lying down.”
US correspondents Mark Stone<\/a> <\/b>and James Matthews<\/a><\/b> discuss the trade rows after Donald Trump paused tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada.
They also look at the announcement by Elon Musk that Trump will shut down USAID – the agency that supports international development – and ask what it means for countries that rely on American help.
You can email James, Martha and Mark at trump100@sky.uk<\/a>
Alongside its tariffs on the US, China has launched an anti-monopoly investigation into Google.
The country’s state market regulator did not offer any further details on the probe or on what it alleged Google had done to breach the law. 
Google products such as its search engine are blocked in China, but it works with local companies like advertisers.
China also added two US firms to its “unreliable entity list”: PVH Corp, the holding company for brands including Calvin Klein, and biotechnology firm Illumina.
Its commerce ministry said the two companies took what it called “discriminatory measures against Chinese enterprises” and “damaged” the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies.
The world’s top two economies have exchanged trade war blows this morning.
Donald Trump imposed an additional 10% tariff on all Chinese imports at 5am.
Within minutes, China retaliated with an announcement of 15% tariffs on US coal and liquified natural gas, and 10% on crude oil, farm equipment and some vehicles.
The new tariffs will start on 10 February, China’s commerce ministry said.
“The trade war is in the early stages so the likelihood of further tariffs is high,” Oxford Economics said in a note as it downgraded its China economic growth forecast.
China’s commerce ministry said the country would also impose export controls on tungsten, tellurium, ruthenium, molybdenum and ruthenium-related items to “safeguard national security interests”.
Trump warned he might increase tariffs on China further unless Beijing stemmed the flow of fentanyl, a deadly opioid, into the US.
“China hopefully is going to stop sending us fentanyl, and if they’re not, the tariffs are going to go substantially higher,” he said yesterday.
China has called fentanyl America’s problem and said it would challenge the tariffs at the World Trade Organization and take other countermeasures, but also left the door open for talks.
A White House spokesperson said Trump would not be speaking with Chinese President Xi Jinping until later in the week.
Welcome back to our live coverage as Donald Trump’s tariffs come into effect on China – after 11th-hour negotiations led to pauses to threatened tariffs on Mexico and China yesterday.
Before we bring you the latest, here’s a recap of key developments over the past 24 hours:
Thank you for following our live coverage today.
We’re pausing our updates in this blog overnight, but will be back with more tomorrow.
Before we go, here’s a recap of all the latest developments over the last 24 hours as the world reacted to Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Scroll through our posts to take a look at the latest insight from our team of correspondents throughout the day.
You can also watch analysis by our economics and data editor Ed Conway<\/b><\/a> on tariffs below.
Donald Trump says he wants to secure access to Ukraine’s supply of rare earth minerals in exchange for financially supporting the country’s war efforts against Russia.
Speaking at the White House, Trump said he was looking to do a deal with Kyiv “where they’re going to secure what we’re giving them with their rare earths and other things”.
He told reporters that Ukraine’s government had signalled openness to the idea of exchanging its supplies of lithium, titanium and other rare earth minerals for continued American aid.
Trump also complained that Europe had not provided Ukraine the same level of aid as the US.
“We have an ocean in between. They don’t. It’s more important for them than it is for us,” he said.
By John Sparks<\/a>, international correspondent<\/b>
As the geographical spread of US President Donald Trump’s pronouncements increases, so do the furrowed worry lines of leaders worldwide. 
Day 14 of the Trump presidency brought threats of a global trade war and news of the likely demise of USAID – the US international aid and development agency.
But the 78-year-old also spent his time complaining that “South Africa is confiscating land” and “certain classes of People” were being treated “VERY BADLY” in a post on his Truth Social website.
He threatened to cut off all future funding to the country until a full investigation is carried out – so, what is actually going on?
Be the first to get Breaking News<\/span>
Install the Sky News app for free<\/p>\n

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