China Says Will Not Fire First Shot In Trade War With U.S.

[Pavel + 384]

China will “absolutely not” fire the first shot in a trade war with the United States and will not be the first to levy tariffs, its finance ministry said on Wednesday. A person with knowledge of the plan earlier told Reuters China’s threatened tariffs on $34 billion of U.S. goods would take effect from the beginning of the day on Friday. Given the 12-hour time difference, that would have put its implementation ahead of Washington’s. Other media carried similar reports. “The Chinese government’s position has been stated many times. We absolutely will not fire the first shot, and will not implement tariff measures ahead of the United States doing so,” it said, without elaborating. Washington has said it would implement tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese imports on July 6, and Beijing has vowed to retaliate in kind on the same day.

[franco + 96]

Keep it up, enjoy these variable and uncertainty times.....