economic history. the u.s. tariffs on 34 billion dollars in chinese goods now in effect as of midnight, july 6th, which was noon in beijing. the items from more than 800 categories of products include airplane parts and farm equipment, china s commerce ministry issuing a statement immediately following saying, quote, china promised not to fire the first shot, but to defend national core interests and the interests of the people. it has no choice but to strike back as necessary. and strike back it did. beijing placing tariffs on an equal value of almost 550 categories of u.s. products, targeting american goods, like soybeans, lobsters to pork, the state-run china daily newspaper saying, quote, the trump administration is behaving like a gang of hoodlums. president trump once again defended his strong stance on trade during a rally in montana on thursday night, right before the tariffs took effect. i respect china, and i