China will defend its rights under World Trade Organisation tariff rules if US president-elect Donald Trump moves toward executing his campaign threats to levy punitive duties on goods made in China, a senior trade official has said. “I think after Mr Trump takes office, he will be reminded that the United States should honour its obligations as a member of the World Trade Organisation,” Zhang said through an interpreter. Trump said on Monday he will formally exit the 12-country Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal in January. The Guardian briefing Read moreChina’s state-run Global Times newspaper last week warned that a 45% Trump tariff would paralyse US-China bilateral trade. US auto and [Apple] iPhone sales in China will suffer a setback, and US soybean and maize imports will be halted,” the newspaper warned.

Source: The Guardian November 24, 2016 03:11 UTC