
Tim Cook and Donal Trump in 2019 — image credit: White House
China previously called Trump’s trade war a joke and said it would not retaliate further than matching what was then said to be a 125% tariff imposed by the US. That tariff was then revealed to actually be 145%, and China did not escalate its own tariffs — although it did halt rare earth mineral exports.
Now, however, CNBC reports that China has responded to what appears to be Trump’s next move. While not announced by Trump or any other country involved, it is believed that isolating China is a key part of the White House’s tariff negotiations worldwide.