China’s economy likely showed stability in the first two months of the year, despite US President Donald Trump returning to office and almost instantly starting a second trade war with Beijing.

Trump, who imposed a wave of tariffs on China in his first term, has slapped another 20% duty on a wide swath of Chinese goods this year. Beijing, the top buyer of American agricultural products, recently imposed retaliatory tariffs of 10% to 15% on a range of U.S. exports like chicken, corn, soybeans and beef.

Long-threatened tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump have plunged the country into a trade war abroad — all while on-again, off-again new levies continue to escalate uncertainty.

Ensuring that China’s 1.4 billion citizens are adequately fed continues to top the policy agenda. While the Asian giant remains a key export market for largely Republican states in the Midwest farm belt, Beijing’s efforts to reconfigure supply chains after the trade war during the first Trump presidency have weakened Washington’s leverage.

The US president threatens a response from his administration after the European bloc announces retaliatory measures to Trump's 25% tax on steel and aluminium imports.

The leaders of both Canada and Mexico got on the phone with President Donald Trump this past week to seek solutions after he slapped tariffs on their countries, but China’s president appears unlikely to make a similar call soon.

China will take all necessary measures to safeguard its rights and interests, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Wednesday, after U.S. President Donald Trump increased tariffs on all U.S. steel and aluminium imports.

It is more likely that the Trump administration negotiates a deal with China, compared with the Biden administration, Kishore Mahbubani said.

Sky News host Andrew Bolt discusses the “challenge” of President Donald Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ plan which may cause other countries to turn to China for trade over the US.