President Donald Trump misjudged Beijing by calculating that it would cave into economic pressure, leaving the US unprepared to handle the current tariff standoff, according to an adviser to China’s Foreign Ministry.

Foreign manufacturers in China are paying duties of 125 per cent to import components and then 145 per cent to export to the US as Donald Trump’s trade war hammers their operations. International companies and joint ventures account for nearly one-third of China’s total trade,