Trump Targets China With Biggest Salvo So Far in Second Term

(Bloomberg) —

The Trump administration took aim at China with a series of moves involving investment, trade and other issues that raises the risk ties may soon worsen between the US and its top economic rival.

In recent days, President Donald Trump has rolled out a memorandum telling a key government committee to curb Chinese spending on tech, energy and other strategic American sectors. The administration also called on Mexican officials to place their own levies on Chinese imports – a move that comes after some firms from the Asian nation shifted production to the US neighbor to avoid duties the Republican enacted in his first term.

The US also proposed fees on the use of commercial ships made in China to counter the nation’s dominance in the production of the vessels. Chinese shipping stocks fell on Monday, while the benchmark CSI 300 Index slipped 0.2%. The yuan traded onshore rose 0.1% to 7.2480 versus the dollar as of 4:21 p.m. in Shanghai. 

Taken together, the steps amount to the most sweeping, forceful actions targeting Beijing of Trump’s fledgling second term and could complicate a deal to reduce China’s trade surplus with the US that the president has indicated he wants to forge.

The memo containing the order to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US — a secretive panel that scrutinizes proposals by foreign entities to buy US companies or property – seems to be the most impactful of the flurry of moves. Referring to Beijing as a “foreign adversary,” it says the changes are needed to protect “the crown jewels of United States technology, food supplies, farml…