A senior trade official cautions Chinese companies to not invest there if they only want to mask their merchandise's country of origin.

While China could offset American tariffs by letting its currency fall, that might endanger Beijing’s recent efforts to stabilize the economy.

The BRIC alliance — consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates — has been looking to reduce dependency on the dollar as the countries tire of U.S. dominance over the global financial system, according to CNBC .

Hello, this is Colum Murphy in Beijing, where Donald Trump’s penchant for doing the surprising … well … surprised everyone again this week.

Trump has made clear he will use tariffs — many of which he can enact without Congress’ approval — to an unprecedented degree as a bludgeon against allies and rivals alike to achieve domestic and foreign policy goals. Rising inflation as tariffs result in higher prices on imports such as cars, electronics, food, and clothing.

Over the weekend, President-elect Donald Trump made new tariff threats toward a number of nations, including some adversaries. The proposals include a 25% tariff on all Candian and Mexican imports, plus a 100% tariff on imports from the Brics Economic Alliance if it undermines the strength of the US dollar.

Trump wrote last week in a social media post he would impose the 25% tariff on Mexico and Canada on his first day in office to halt the “invasion” of drugs and migrants. He also vowed to introduce an additional 10% tariff on goods from China,