Chinese officials have already announced a plan to impose tariffs on U.S. products in retaliation for President Donald Trump's tariffs targeting Chinese imports.
China's commerce secretary drafted a list of 128 products it sends to the U.S. Those products totaled around $3 billion in 2017. The ministry said it will try to work with Washington to reach a trade agreement. If that effort fails, there will be a two-step implementation of China's retaliatory tariffs.
China's response could influence President Xi Jinping's standing in the country. A costly trade war could be damaging to his goal of presenting China as a beacon of global free trade, giving into Trump's demands would mean harming his strong-man image.
