Chinese tariffs on $34 billion of U.S. goods will take effect from midnight July 6 Beijing time, a person with knowledge of the plan told Reuters, amid worsening trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
Washington has said it would implement tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese imports on July 6, and Beijing has vowed to retaliate on the same day.
However, the 12-hour time difference puts Beijing ahead in terms of actually implementing the tariffs.
“Our measures are equal and being equal means that if the U.S. starts on July 6, we start on July 6,” the source told Reuters, who requested anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to media. “The implementation time for all policies starts at midnight.”