The Trump administration moved the United States (US) to the edge of a trade war with China by announcing tariffs on US$50 billion in Chinese imports and pledging additional investment restrictions, which Beijing immediately vowed to retaliate against.The response from China signalled a rapid escalation of the dispute.

Stocks in major markets across the globe surged on Monday morning after United States (US) secretary of the treasury Steven Mnuchin told the international media that a potential US and China trade war was “on hold”. In New York, the Dow Jones was up more than 300 points while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq index were also making gains.

China will “significantly increase purchases” of United States (US) goods, the White House said as Beijing’s special envoy in talks at Washington declared a trade war has been averted between the world’s two largest economies.A joint statement released by the White House following the talks didn’t place a dollar figure on the increased purchases by China or address a comment by President Donald Trump’s top economic adviser suggesting Beijing had agreed to slash its annual trade surplus with t

China has offered United States (US) President Donald Trump a US$200 billion reduction in its annual trade surplus with the US by increasing imports of American products and other steps, said a Trump administration official.China made the offer during talks in Washington this week as Chinese Vice Premier Liu He visited to try to resolve a trade dispute, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Liu met with Trump Thursday afternoon at the White House.

Two days of U.S.-China trade discussions ended in Beijing on Friday with an agreement to keep on talking, and little else.China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported Friday afternoon that both sides reached a consensus on some trade issues, without providing details. They also acknowledged major disagreements on some matters and will continue communicating to work toward making more progress.The U.S.

Markets are quivering as fears of a U.S.-China trade war ebb and flow. Thus far, they've mostly been focused on tariffs that President Donald Trump wants to impose on a range of Chinese goods, and China's threats to retaliate. But investors may be overlooking a bigger risk in this dispute.It's true that duties on U.S. imports would hurt – hands are already wringing in farm country – but there's a limit to how much pain they can really inflict.

“I want to clearly tell everyone that China’s open doors will not close, but will only open wider,” China’s President, Xi Jinping proclaimed to rousing applause from attendees at the Boao Forum for Asia in China’s Hainan province last Tuesday. The Boao Forum, which also goes by the sobriquet, “The Davos of Asia” was attended by foreign heads of governments and industry movers and shakers from the world over, mostly from the Asian region.

The world will soon witness a historic test of wills between China and the United States, two superpowers whose leaders see themselves as supreme. In the immediate sense, it will be a battle over trade. But also at stake is the strategic leadership of East Asia and, eventually, the international order. As things stand, China holds a stronger position than many people realise.

Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed to open sectors from banking to auto manufacturing, in a speech that also warned against returning to a “Cold War mentality” amid his trade disputes with U.S. counterpart Donald Trump.Xi said China would increase imports, lower foreign-ownership limits on manufacturing and expand protection to intellectual property.

The world is watching as the United States (US)-China trade war unfolds before our eyes. While the trade war might be between two countries, but it’s effects are far reaching, especially in the current globalised landscape we all live in.The trade war between the two countries kicked off in January when the US announced a 30% tariff on imported solar panels and a 20% tariff on washing machines. The trade war then intensified when US President Donald Trump imposed a 25% tariff on steel.