ZAGREB, April 10 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump "miscalculated and underestimated China's negotiating power" while imposing new tariffs on China, said Croatian economist Mladen Vedris in an interview with the local N1 Television on Thursday.
"Compared with all other countries, China is a special story. It is strong and less sensitive to pressure," Vedris was quoted as saying, adding that "China has grown enormously and is still growing."
China has taken swift, firm countermeasures following the latest U.S. tariff hike on Chinese imports, in a move to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.
The Chinese government on Wednesday announced that it will raise additional tariffs on products imported from the United States to 84 percent, add six U.S. firms to its unreliable entity list, and place 12 U.S. entities on its export control list.
According to the Croatian economist, Trump, who on Wednesday suddenly paused his tariffs on most nations for 90 days by claiming that countries were lining up to negotiate more favourable conditions, had to back down due to the pressure from the stock market.
Vedris said that Trump has been using the tariffs to try to improve the basis for negotiations with others.
Moreover, Croatia will also have to pay a heavy price due to U.S. tariffs, Vedris noted.
"As far as Croatia is concerned, we could have indirect consequences and a third of our growth could be hit due to U.S. tariffs," he warned.
