May 10, 2019 - Economy

As midnight strikes, Trump's China trade war spikes

In this image, Trump speaks and gestures into a microphone.

Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images

President Trump raised tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods from 10% to 25% overnight on Friday, as he threatened to do earlier this week, and could move to impose new tariffs on all Chinese exports to the U.S.

Why it matters: This increase "made clear that Mr. Trump sees tariffs as a winning tactic, both internationally ... and at home with Congress," the Wall Street Journal writes. Beijing said it plans to retaliate to the tariff spike.

What's next: Talks between the U.S. and China are set to resume later today, but "some close observers said they were not hopeful for any meaningful breakthroughs," per Bloomberg.

Go deeper: How tariffs on China could hit the U.S. hard, too

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