WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Chinese goods (all times local):
1 p.m.
It’s a quick response from the Beijing government to President Donald Trump’s tariff increase on Chinese goods.
The Chinese Commerce Ministry says it will immediately impose penalties of “equal strength” on U.S. products.
The ministry says it’s also scrapping deals to buy more American farm goods and other exports — steps that were intended to help ease a dispute over China’s trade surplus and China’s technology policy.
A ministry statement isn’t giving details, but a $50 billion list of possible targets announced in April included soybeans, light aircraft, orange juice, whiskey and beef.
Trump’s tariffs are in response to complaints that Beijing steals or pressures foreign companies to hand over technology.
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9:25 a.m.
President Donald Trump is hailing his “very big tariffs” on China.
Trump is speaking Friday on the North Lawn of the White House, just as his administration just announced a 25 percent tariff on up to $50 billion worth of Chinese imports.
Trump says there is “great brain power” in this country. He adds: “‘There is no trade war. They’ve taken so much.”
Trump also defended his trade clash at a recent meeting of the Group of Seven industrialized nations. He again complained that he had been blindsided by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s criticism of his tariff threats at a summit-ending news conference.
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8 a.m.
The Trump administration is announcing a 25 percent tariff on $50 billion worth of Chinese imports, escalating a trade dispute between the world’s two largest economies.
President Donald Trump has vowed to clamp down on what he calls China’s unfair trade practices. China has said that it will retaliate with $50 billion in tariffs in response, rattling financial markets.
It comes in the aftermath of Trump’s nuclear summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (kim jawng oon) and his push for China to maintain economic pressure on the North.
Trump has already slapped tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada, Mexico, Europe and Japan, drawing a rebuke from U.S. allies.
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