Escalating his trade fight with China, President Donald Trump has raised retaliatory tariffs and ordered American companies to consider alternatives to doing business there.
He also blamed his appointed head of the U.S. central bank, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, for the state of the domestic economy and wondered who was a "bigger enemy" of the US Powell or Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Even by the turbulent standards of the Trump presidency, his actions Friday, all via Twitter, were notable.
They sent markets sharply lower and added to a sense of uncertainty during his visit to France for a meeting of global economic powers.
Trump's move came after Beijing announced it had raised taxes on US products.
The president attacked the Fed for not lowering rates at an informal gathering in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where no such action was under consideration.
Powell, speaking to central bankers, gave vague assurances that the Fed would act to sustain the nation's economic expansion, but noted that Fed had limited tools to deal with damage from the trade dispute.
Trump said he would be raising planned tariffs on USD 300 billion in Chinese goods from 10 per cent to 15 per cent.
The Office of the US Trade Representative also said existing tariffs on another USD 250 billion in Chinese imports would go from 25 per cent to 30 per cent on October 1 after receiving feedback from the public.
Late Friday, Trump told reporters at the White House: "I have no choice. We're not going to lose close to a trillion dollars a year to China."
He insisted that "tariffs are working out very well for us. People don't understand that yet."
The Chinese government, in a statement posted on the Commerce Ministry's website Saturday, railed against "this kind of unilateral, bullying trade protectionism" urged the Trump administration to "immediately stop its mistaken course of action, or else the US will have to bear all the consequences."
"The administration's approach clearly isn't working, and the answer isn't more taxes on American businesses and consumers. Where does this end?"
Trump tweets Friday included one declaring, "Our great American companies are hereby ordered to immediately start looking for an alternative to China, including bringing ... your companies HOME and making your products in the USA."
French, at the National Retail Federation, said it was "unrealistic for American retailers to move out of the world's second largest economy. ... Our presence in China allows us to reach Chinese customers and develop overseas markets."
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