in 2018 the united states and china engaged in a trade war where each country was imposing trade tariffs on goods imported from the other country. the trump administration announced in june of that year that the united states would "soon" begin imposing tariffs on $50 billion worth of goods imported from china. china quickly responded by announcing tariffs on agricultural products, automobiles, and other products imported from the united states. president trump then countered by threatening additional tariffs on another $200 billion worth of chinese goods. china responded with a statement that said it would respond to any such measures in kind.