News analysis

China's new tariffs hit Trump support base - but not yet major shots in trade war

Workers cut pork at Park Packing in Chicago, Illinois, on July 18, 2015. Beijing's tariffs on 128 items hit American pork, aluminium scrap and some other products with a 25 per cent levy.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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WASHINGTON - China's imposition of tariffs on a range of American imports including pork, fruit and nuts, targets part of American President Donald Trump's political base and is a step deeper into a trade war.

But they were relatively precise and not unexpected, and avoided targeting major commodities such as soy beans. The tariffs cover a small percentage - US$3 billion (S$3.93 billion) - of America's US$140.5 billion worth of agricultural goods exports in the last fiscal year, of which China accounted for about US$22 billion.

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