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21:18, 07-Apr-2018
US markets feel impact as China-US trade tensions escalate
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Beijing says it's ready to hit back if Washington imposes new tariffs on Chinese goods. US markets are already feeling the punch.
US stocks plunged more than two percent Friday after President Donald Trump warned of tariffs on an additional 100 billion dollars worth of Chinese imports.
Investors were unnerved by the latest broadside from the volatile US president, and by China's strident response. Beijing vowed it would stand firm "until the end at any cost."
But it's more than the stock market that fears the pain.
Agricultural leaders in the US farming state of Iowa warned they would be the first casualties of rashly imposed tariffs.
This is because both soybeans and pork are already on the list of American products subject to China's higher tariffs as countermeasures.
Criticism of Trump's tariffs has been growing. Some, like Washington lawyer Mark Lehnardt, say it goes against trade laws.
"Trump has just been, in my opinion, abusing trade laws. And the US needs more measures or approaches to these decisions."
His words are echoed by the vice president of the US National Retail Federation David French.
"Tariffs are taxes and eventually they will find their way into everyday goods that Americans buy in the form of higher prices. Tariffs don't work. Trade is a good thing for the US economy."
China says it will not tolerate any further provocation from the US.
A Ministry of Commerce spokesperson said earlier that China will never seek any confrontations, but if provoked and agitated, it will fight back.