Trump defends China tariffs as trade war leaves allies and opponents in bind

Trump’s hardline stance against China puts Republicans in an awkward position, while Democrats are splitDonald Trump with China’s President Xi Jinping in 2017. China said it will raise tariffs on $60bn worth of US goods from 1 June, in retaliation to the latest round of US tariff hikes. Photograph: Fred Dufour/AFP/Getty ImagesDonald Trump has again defended tariffs as his dogged, often self-contradictory pursuit of a trade war with China put allies and opponents alike in a difficult