Four months since Trump fired the opening salvo of his trade war, only China and Canada have dared to hit back at Washington imposing a minimum 10 per cent global tariff, 50 per cent levies on steel and aluminium, and 25 per cent on autos.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump told reporters Tuesday that he plans to place tariffs of over 10% on smaller countries, including nations in Africa and the Caribbean. “We’ll probably set one tariff for all of them,” Trump said, adding that it could be “a little over 10% tariff” on goods from at least 100 nations.

US Commerce chief Howard Lutnick says the countries with goods being taxed at these rates would be in Africa and the Caribbean.

Official figures showed modest growth in the second quarter as exports shifted to other countries and Beijing invested in manufacturing and infrastructure.

China accounted for 5.89% of all U.S. trade in May, its lowest percentage in decades. Trump’s tariffs or trade trickery? It’s hard to dispute it’s a remarkable shift.

A surge of exports from Chinese manufacturers supported the growth, as customers and producers alike took advantage of the U.S.-China trade war ceasefire.