China threatens to cut iPhone sales and replace Boeing with Airbus if Donald Trump starts a trade war

Beijing will offer a ‘tit-for-tat approach’ if America puts a tariff on Chinese products

China’s state-run newspaper said the President-elect would be ‘naive’ to start a trade war (Getty)

China will cut iPhone sales and order planes from Airbus instead of Boeing if Donald Trump decides to embark upon a trade war.

The Global Times, the country’s state-run newspaper, said Mr Trump would be “naïve” to start a trade war against the country and that China would respond with “counter-measures” if the US were to act in an aggressive way.

The editorial was clear there would a “tit-for-tat approach” if Mr Trump lives up to his campaign pledge of putting up a 45 per cent tariff on Chinese exports.

“If Trump wrecks Sino-US trade, a number of US industries will be impaired. Finally the new president will be condemned for his recklessness, ignorance and incompetence,” the newspaper said.

“A batch of Boeing orders will be replaced by Airbus. US auto and iPhone sales in China will suffer a setback, and US soybean and maize imports will be halted. China can also limit the number of Chinese students studying in the US.

“Making things difficult for China politically will do him no good,” the Global Times warned.

The President-elect had previously claimed that despite being America’s biggest trading partner, a trade war was already under way and that China was a “currency manipulator”.

“We already have a trade war. And we’re losing, badly,” Mr Trump said, the New York Times reported.

Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke with the President-elect after his victory in the US election and said that cooperation was the only way forward.

Mr Trump said the two had established a good relationship and there was a “clear sense of mutual respect”.