The US administration has announced another round of tariffs on Chinese products – this time it's 25% on another $16bn worth of stuff.
Wihat it means:China's been the main target in Trump's 'trade war' since Day 1. The first round of tariffs, or import taxes, on Chinese goods came into effect in July. Now, he's added another 279 products to the lists of things he's putting a 25% tax on if they come into the US from China.
The Chinese are not pleased. A front-page article in a Chinese state-owned newspaper said: "certain people go against the tide for their own private ends... the stick of hegemony is raised all round". Which doesn't mention Trump by name but you can kind of tell what they're talking about.
A lot of Americans aren't pleased either. Agribusiness, retail, and tech business leaders say these tariffs are hurting their companies. The chief exec of the Semiconductor Association said, "We have made the case that tariffs...will hurt America's chipmakers, not China's." Farmers for Free Trade, another lobbying group, say they're watching their goods become less competitive.
Trump's still confident in his plans: "Trade wars are good and easy to win," he said in a tweet back in March, and he doesn't seem to have changed his mind. Rumor has it he may extend the tariffs to the full $500bn worth of goods the US imports from China.
