China’s defence against Trump

US President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House is compelling countries across the whole spectrum of the United States’ major trading partners — China and Europe included — to recalibrate their economic policy. His pledge to impose additional tariffs exceeding 60 per cent on Chinese goods and up to 20pc on imports from Europe and the rest of the world to protect American manufacturers and jobs is pushing Washington’s allies and trading partners to readjust their economies. Beijing, facing a bigger threat to its exports, seems to have already stepped up plans to rebalance its $19 trillion economy by vigorously boosting domestic consumption as a driver of growth through a “moderately loose monetary policy” and a “more active fiscal policy” to maintain growth in 2025.