Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump launched the next salvo in his widening war on Chinese trade abuses, this time taking aim at China's unfair seizure of US intellectual property. "We have a tremendous intellectual property theft problem," Trump said. The move, which comes on the heels of the administration's steel and aluminum tariffs that also took aim at China, has already been met with threats of retaliation from China and is heightening concerns of a global trade war that could destabilize the global economy -- fears the Trump administration has repeatedly brushed off. Before signing the measure, Trump lamented the US' multi-hundred billion dollar trade deficit with China and said the action would be "the first of many." "In terms of the broader calculus of the harm that is done by what is the theft ... of intellectual property is almost incalculable," the official said.

Source: CNN March 22, 2018 13:46 UTC