China’s finance ministry said Friday that its latest hike in retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. would limit American access to the Chinese market so severely there would be no point in escalating further. (The Logic)

Talking point: Beijing had previously raised its counter-tariffs to 84 per cent to match the higher rate of “reciprocal” tariffs President Donald Trump slapped on China, which he singled out for punishment while temporarily lowering duties on other countries to 10 per cent. Then Trump raised that to 125 per cent, bringing the total tariffs on China to 145 per cent, which also includes an early 20 per cent fentanyl-related tariff. China has now matched that move, but said it would not bother doing it again if Trump ups the ante. “China will pay no attention if the U.S. side continues to impose tariffs on Chinese goods exported to the U.S. in the future,” the finance ministry said in a statement Friday.