China to retaliate after Trump fires first salvo in trade war

Trump has linked the levies to irregular immigration and cross-border flows of the opioid fentanyl, which has driven a surge in overdose deaths in the U.S.

Beijing pushed back, saying: “China hopes that the U.S. side will objectively and rationally look at and deal with its own fentanyl issue and other issues, rather than threatening other countries by means of tariffs at every turn.”

China’s statement is far less specific than the immediate responses from Mexico and Canada, whose leaders ordered countermeasures on Saturday. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Ottawa would impose 25 percent tariffs on goods worth roughly $21 billion starting Tuesday and more later this month.

Germany, which is in the firing line of Trump’s tariff threats against Europe, was trying to be nonconfrontational following the moves against other U.S. trading partners.

"We should not react to the first decisions in a panic, but rather see them as the beginning of the negotiations and not the end," German Finance Minister Jörg Kukies said on Sunday during a trip to the Gulf region, Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper reported.

Meanwhile, Japan on Sunday expressed fears about the consequences of Trump’s tariffs for the global economy. Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato told Japanese television that “we’re deeply concerned about how these tariffs could affect the world’s economy … Japan needs to scrutinize these policies and their effects, and take appropriate measures.”