'A policy mistake of gigantic proportions': Markets and experts react as China hits back at Trump's trade tariffs

$50bn target

China's retaliation to the tariffs imposed by the US sent shockwaves through global markets on Wednesday, with industry commentators baffled at the economic "illiteracy" of US President Donald Trump and his administration.

After months of talk about a potential trade war, Trump finally took action on Tuesday night by placing 25% tariffs on approximately 1,300 Chinese products, ranging from information technology to aerospace, which will target around $50bn of 2018 imports. Trump justified the looming tariffs on Twitter, commenting: "We are not in a trade war with China, that war was lost many years ago by the foolish, or incompetent, people who represented the US. Now we have a trade deficit of $500bn a year, with intellectual property theft of another $300bn. We cannot let this continue!" Global market...