Donald Trump tariffs: Opening salvos fired in trade war - what comes next?

Are we seeing the opening moves in a wider trade war, and what are the potential economic consequences?

British Broadcasting CorporationWatch LiveHomeNewsSportBusinessInnovationCultureArtsTravelEarthVideoLiveHomeNewsIsrael-Gaza WarWar in UkraineUS & CanadaUKUK PoliticsEnglandN. IrelandN. Ireland PoliticsScotlandScotland PoliticsWalesWales PoliticsAfricaAsiaChinaIndiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastIn PicturesBBC InDepthBBC VerifySportBusinessExecutive LoungeTechnology of BusinessFuture of BusinessInnovationTechnologyScience & HealthArtificial IntelligenceAI v the MindCultureFilm & TVMusicArt & DesignStyleBooksEntertainment NewsArtsArts in MotionTravelDestinationsAfricaAntarcticaAsiaAustralia and PacificCaribbean & BermudaCentral AmericaEuropeMiddle EastNorth AmericaSouth AmericaWorld’s TableCulture & ExperiencesAdventuresThe SpeciaListEarthNatural WondersWeather & ScienceClimate SolutionsSustainable BusinessGreen LivingVideoLiveLive NewsLive SportHomeNewsSportBusinessInnovationCultureArtsTravelEarthVideoLiveAudioWeatherNewslettersThe opening salvos have been fired in Trump's trade war - what comes next?24 hours agoBen ChuBBC VerifyEPA-EFE/REX/ShutterstockJust a day ago, Donald Trump was threatening a multi-front trade war with Canada, Mexico and China that would take the global economy into uncharted territory.

Twenty-four hours later, we're in a rather different place with the tariffs - or taxes - against America's closest neighbours and trading partners on hold for 30 days.

But the 10% tariffs on all goods imports from China have gone ahead, and Beijing has responded in kind. So what are the potential economic consequences of these opening salvos and could this turn into a broader trade war?

China is subject to significant US tariffs already and has been since Trump's first term. But the blanket nature of today's new levies from the White House on every single goods import from China - from toys, to mobile phones, to clothes - is new and significant.

Beijing's promised tariff retaliation - including new levies on imports from the US of oil, agricultural machinery and some cars - is far less sweeping. Yet the retaliation moves us into the arena of tit-for-tat action, where the country experiencing the tariffs feels it has no choice but to hit back to show its own citizens it can't be pushed around by a foreign power.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c7vdjpj7pe3o

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