China-US trade war heats up as Beijing’s tariffs take effect

China-US trade war heats up as Beijing’s tariffs take effect
1 / 2
People shop for vegetables in a market in Beijing on March 9, 2025. Consumer prices in China fell last month, with authorities struggling to kickstart spending and trade headwinds intensifying as US tariffs kick in under Donald Trump. (AFP)
China-US trade war heats up as Beijing’s tariffs take effect
2 / 2
A vendor shouts out his price for lettuce in a market in Beijing on March 9, 2025, as China's trade war with the US escalates, triggered by Trump's tariffs. (AFP)
Short Url
Updated 10 March 2025
Follow

China-US trade war heats up as Beijing’s tariffs take effect

China-US trade war heats up as Beijing’s tariffs take effect
  • After imposing a blanket 10 percent tariff on all Chinese goods in early February, Trump hiked the rate to 20 percent last week
  • China retaliated by imposing levies of 10 and 15 percent on several US farm products, a move designed to hurt Trump’s voter base

BEIJING: China’s tariffs on certain US agricultural goods in retaliation for President Donald Trump’s latest hike on Chinese imports came into force Monday, as trade tensions mount between the world’s two leading economies.
Since retaking office in January, Trump has unleashed a barrage of tariffs on major US trading partners, including China, Canada and Mexico, citing their failure to stop illegal immigration and flows of deadly fentanyl.
After imposing a blanket 10 percent tariff on all Chinese goods in early February, Trump hiked the rate to 20 percent last week.
Beijing reacted quickly, its finance ministry accusing Washington of “undermining” the multilateral trading system and announcing fresh measures of its own.
Those tariffs come into effect Monday and see levies of 10 and 15 percent imposed on several US farm products.
Chicken, wheat, corn and cotton from the United States will now be subject to the higher charge.
Soybeans, sorghum, pork, beef, aquatic products, fruit, vegetables and dairy will face the slightly lower rate.
The tariffs will not apply to goods that left before March 10, however, as long as they arrive in China by April 12.
Analysts say Beijing’s retaliatory tariffs are designed to hurt Trump’s voter base while remaining restrained enough to allow room to hash out a trade deal.
The increasing trade headwinds add to difficulties faced by Chinese leaders currently seeking to stabilize the country’s wavering economy.
Sluggish consumer spending, a prolonged debt crisis in the vast property sector and high youth unemployment are among the issues now facing policymakers.
Analysts say China’s exports — which last year reached record highs — might not provide the same economic lifeline for Beijing as its trade war with Washington intensifies.

Experts say the full effects of the recent wave of tariffs have yet to be fully felt, though early signs already indicate a downturn in shipments.
China’s exports grew 2.3 percent year-on-year during the first two months of 2025, official data showed Friday, missing expectations and slowing significantly from the 10.7 percent growth recorded in December.
“As exports face downside risk with trade war looming, the fiscal policy needs to become more proactive,” wrote Zhiwei Zhang, president and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management.
The latest trade data came as Chinese officials congregated in Beijing for the country’s largest annual political gathering, known as the “Two Sessions.”
During a speech to delegates on Wednesday, Premier Li Qiang laid out the government’s economic strategy for the year ahead, acknowledging “an increasingly complex and severe external environment.”
Li also announced that the government’s official growth target for the year ahead would be “around five percent” — the same as 2024.
Many economists consider that goal to be ambitious, considering the hurdles facing China’s economy.
“If fiscal spending starts to ramp up again soon then that could more than offset the near-term hit to growth from tariffs,” wrote Julian Evans-Pritchard of Capital Economics.
“However, given the wider headwinds... we still aren’t convinced that fiscal support will be sufficient to deliver anything more than a short-lived boost,” he added.
 


Putin proposes direct talks with Ukraine “‘without preconditions’

Putin proposes direct talks with Ukraine “‘without preconditions’
Updated 6 sec ago
Follow

Putin proposes direct talks with Ukraine “‘without preconditions’

Putin proposes direct talks with Ukraine “‘without preconditions’

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday proposed direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul on May 15, "without preconditions."

His remarks came as the leaders of four major European countries visited Kyiv to push for Moscow to agree to a truce and launch peace talks on ending the nearly three-year war.

(Developing story)


Bangladesh’s interim government bans the former ruling party of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina

Bangladesh’s interim government bans the former ruling party of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
Updated 10 min 58 sec ago
Follow

Bangladesh’s interim government bans the former ruling party of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina

Bangladesh’s interim government bans the former ruling party of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
  • The ban would stay in place until a special tribunal completes a trial of the party and its leaders over the deaths of hundreds of students

DHAKA, Bangladesh: The interim government in Bangladesh on Saturday banned all activities of the former ruling Awami League party headed by former influential Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted last year in a mass uprising.
Asif Nazrul, the country’s law affairs adviser, said late Saturday the interim Cabinet headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus decided to ban the party’s activities online and elsewhere under the country’s Anti-Terrorism Act. The ban would stay in place until a special tribunal completes a trial of the party and its leaders over the deaths of hundreds of students and other protesters during an anti-government uprising in July and August last year.
“This decision is aimed at ensuring national security and sovereignty, protection of activists of the July movement, and plaintiffs and witnesses involved in the tribunal proceedings,” Nazrul told reporters after a special Cabinet meeting.
Nazrul said the meeting Saturday also expanded scope for trying any political parties involving charges of killing during the anti-Hasina protest being handled by the International Crimes Tribunal.
He said a government notification regarding the ban would be published soon with details.
Hasina and many of her senior party colleagues have been accused of murder in many cases after her ouster last year. Hasina has been in exile in India since Aug. 5 as her official residence was stormed by protesters soon after she left the country.
The United Nations human rights office in a report said in February that up to 1,400 people may have been killed during three weeks of anti-Hasina protest.
Saturday night’s dramatic decision came after thousands of protesters, including supporters of a newly formed political party by students, took to the streets in Dhaka and issued an ultimatum to ban the Awami League party by Saturday night. The members of the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami party also prominently took part in the protest.
There was no immediate reaction from Hasina or her party, but the chief of the National Citizen Party, Nahid Islam, who is also a student leader, applauded the Yunus-led government for its decision.
The student-led uprising ended Hasina’s 15 years of rule, and three days after her fall Yunus took the helm as interim leader.


France in talks with Britain, Ukraine about potential troops, Macron tells paper

France in talks with Britain, Ukraine about potential troops, Macron tells paper
Updated 10 May 2025
Follow

France in talks with Britain, Ukraine about potential troops, Macron tells paper

France in talks with Britain, Ukraine about potential troops, Macron tells paper
  • “We’re working on the presence and strategic footprint of the partner countries,” Macron said
  • “The key is to have troops in Ukraine“

PARIS: France is consulting with partners on how to potentially support Ukraine in its struggle with Russia with troops, French President Emmanuel Macron told newspaper Le Parisien on Saturday, without elaborating on what such a presence could include.

“We are working on the presence and strategic footprint of the partner countries. There have been several exchanges between our British, French and Ukrainian chiefs of staff, who have coordinated the work with all their partners, and all this is becoming clearer and making progress,” Macron was cited in the article.

“The key is to have troops in Ukraine,” he added.

Major European powers including France threw their weight behind an unconditional 30-day Ukraine ceasefire, with the backing of US President Donald Trump.

Macron joined the leaders of Britain, Germany and Poland on a visit to Kyiv on Saturday during which they held a phone call with Trump.


Seven dead after heavy rain hits Mogadishu

Seven dead after heavy rain hits Mogadishu
Updated 10 May 2025
Follow

Seven dead after heavy rain hits Mogadishu

Seven dead after heavy rain hits Mogadishu
  • Floodwaters also damaged key infrastructure, halting public transport

MOGADISHU: At least seven people have died, and major roads were cut off after heavy rains led to flooding in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, on Friday night due to an overwhelmed drainage system and a growing urban population.

The regional administration spokesperson, Abdinasir Hirsi Idle, said on Saturday that rescue efforts were ongoing.

“The death toll could rise because the rains were heavy and lasted for several hours, causing nine houses to collapse across different neighborhoods, and at least six major roads to suffer severe damage,” he said.

Somalia has in the past suffered extreme climate shocks, including prolonged dry seasons that have caused drought and heavy rains that have resulted in floods.

Friday’s rains went on for about eight hours, leaving waist-high waters in neighborhoods where some residents were trapped and others were forced to move to higher ground.

A resident, Mohammed Hassan, said that some older people were still trapped.

“We spent the night on rooftops, shivering from the cold, and I have not even had breakfast,” he said.

Floodwaters also damaged key infrastructure, halting public transport and temporarily disrupting operations at the main airport, Aden Abdulle International Airport. 

Officials later confirmed flights had resumed operations.

The Somali Disaster Management Agency has not yet released an official death toll, but said an assessment was underway to determine the extent of the damage.

In a statement on Saturday, the country’s Energy and Water Ministry said: “A substantial amount of rainfall, exceeding 115 mm, was recorded in over 8 consecutive hours” and warned of flash floods in other regions outside the capital.


Marcos camp takes on Duterte clan in key poll

Marcos camp takes on Duterte clan in key poll
Updated 10 May 2025
Follow

Marcos camp takes on Duterte clan in key poll

Marcos camp takes on Duterte clan in key poll
  • Most voters back senate candidates who assert Philippine sovereignty: Survey

MANILA: In political rallies, Senate hearings, and voter surveys ahead of Monday’s midterm elections in the Philippines, China has been an overwhelming — and unusual — presence.

The shadow of its giant maritime neighbor has loomed over the Philippines for years. 

However, as the country’s two most prominent political clans flex their muscles in the usually low-key process to pick senators and local government leaders, relations with China have emerged as a political lightning rod.

The outcome could shape the country’s strategic positioning over the remaining half of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s six-year term, which began in 2022.

“Will we allow ourselves to return to the time when our leaders wanted us to become a province of China?” Marcos asked voters at a rally in February, in a dig at predecessor Rodrigo Duterte and his daughter Sara, who is currently vice president and a key Marcos rival.

During his 2016 to 2022 term, Duterte shifted foreign policy on China, adopting conciliatory rhetoric and downplaying disputes in the South China Sea. 

The strategy drew concern from Washington and raised questions about the Philippines’ longstanding security alliance with the US.

In contrast, Marcos has moved to rekindle and deepen ties with Washington.

“These are hot-button issues that many Filipino voters can relate to, particularly on the issue of China. There was a time in the past when foreign policy did not matter that much during elections,” said Ederson Tapia, professor of public administration at the University of Makati.

“But now it does.”

An April survey found that most voters in the country of 110 million prefer candidates who assert Philippine sovereignty in the South China Sea, where the Marcos-led administration has taken a more assertive stance in its maritime confrontations with Beijing, which continue unabated.

It is a sentiment that Marcos has tapped into since he started his campaign for the slate of Senate candidates that he is backing.

In the February rally, Marcos pointed to his candidates, saying: “None of them were applauding China when our coast guard was being bombed with water, when our fishermen were being blocked, when their catch was stolen, and our islands seized to become part of another country.”

The Duterte camp enjoyed a surge of sympathy when he was arrested by the International Criminal Court in March and taken to The Hague, but Marcos’ candidates remain ahead in polls and appear poised to dominate the Senate race.

A Duterte spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

Through a months-long campaign, Marcos has kept up the pressure and focused on China as a key election issue, while his allies have aimed at Sara Duterte for her silence on China’s actions.

Sara, a likely future presidential candidate, was once a Marcos ally but now faces an impeachment trial on charges including a threat to assassinate the president if she were harmed.

In the Philippines, the 24-member Senate acts as the jury in any impeachment trial, making the midterms even more consequential in determining Sara Duterte’s political future.

Sara, who denied wrongdoing, responded to her impeachment with defiance, asking the Supreme Court to nullify the complaint against her.

A strong mandate for Marcos would not only define his ability to govern decisively in the remaining three years of his term but would also shape the 2028 presidential race, said Victor Andres “Dindo” Manhit, a political analyst and founder of Stratbase Group, a research and advisory firm.

Marcos is limited to a single term under the Constitution and is expected to anoint a successor. Sara Duterte would also be eligible to run in 2028 if she survives impeachment.

“Those who will run need to be tested on consistency about these issues,” Manhit said, referring to protecting the Philippines’ maritime rights and sovereignty.

“And one of them is the current vice president. She has not spoken against this coercion by China.”

A spokesperson for Sara Duterte did not respond to a request for comment.

The midterm election comes amid a proliferation of disinformation in the Philippines. Inauthentic accounts have driven up to 45 percent of discussions about the elections on social media, Reuters reported last month.

The use of fake accounts and paid influencers for political operations is widespread in the Philippines, but a top security official and a senator alleged last month that Chinese state-sponsored groups might be attempting to influence Filipinos.

China’s foreign ministry and its embassy in Manila have rejected the accusations.