Trade tensions between China and US have escalated in past 24 hours - ANZ

Analysts at ANZ explained that trade tensions between China and the US have escalated in past 24 hours, with Trump announcing a raft of new tariffs aimed at directly China. 

Key Quotes:

"The tariffs are said to hit roughly USD60bn worth of Chinese imports to the US and are being implemented on the premise that American intellectual property (IP) needs protecting from China’s state-led and market distorting efforts to steal US tech and IP. Tariffs will target the aerospace, information and communication technology, and machinery space at 25%. The US will also raise a WTO case and implement investment restrictions. The big question is where to from here? While signing the order Trump stated “this is the first of many”. China has said they will respond with ‘measured and proportional’ levies on the US, which is expected to include imports of US automotive, soybean, aircraft and computer chips. Agriculture is considered a likely target because it’s one of the few sectors where America has a trade surplus with China and it’s a sector weighted towards Trump’s support base."