If China was hoping for Trump to relent, and back down in the last minute before the start of tonight's China tariffs, set to take place at 1 minute after midnight, it will be disappointed.

Speaking to reporters aboard air Force One on route to Montana, the president said that the planned tariffs on Chinese goods would go forward just after midnight, as previously reported, and in so doing will deliver on a promise to his political supporters that risks provoking retaliation and, if taken far enough, sending the global economy into a recession.

Trump then said that another $16 billion of goods could follow in two weeks, before suggesting the final total could eventually reach $550 billion, a figure that exceeds all of China's annual goods exports to the U.S., but is below the total calculated recently by Goldman Sachs, which saw as much as $800 billion in total tariffs on Chinese goods.

As previously reported China has vowed to hit back moments after the Trump decision is enacted - so it does not appears to be the initiator - by imposing its own $34BN of tariffs in kind on goods ranging from American soybeans to pork, which may in turn prompt Trump to raise trade barriers even higher.

"Once these tariffs start going into effect, it's pretty clear the conflict is real," Robert Holleyman, former deputy U.S. trade representative under Barack Obama and now a partner Crowell and Moring, told Bloomberg. "If we don't find an exit ramp, this will accelerate like a snowball going down a hill."

Which of course is what a trade war is all about.

Meanwhile, as if it hasn't been mocked enough already, such American companies as Harley-Davidson are among those set to suffer from China's retaliation. Additionally, American businesses from Apple and Walmart to General Motors all operate in China and are keen to expand. As Bloomberg notes, that hands Chinese President Xi room to impose penalties such as customs delays, tax audits and increased regulatory scrutiny "if Trump delivers on his threat of bigger duties on Chinese trade."

Ultimately, the question is who will be impacted more: the US or China: to be sure, Chinese stocks have taken a far greater beating than their US peers in recent weeks, entering a bear market, as concerns about the trade war have mingled with worries about China's ability to control its debt and maintain growth. Meanwhile, U.S. stocks are up slightly more than 2 percent this year as investors have weighed the threat of trade frictions against the strong performance of the U.S. economy.