Chinese regime accepting backing for tariffs extremely close (8)
I believe the answer is:
handiest
'tariffs extremely close' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.
'chinese regime accepting backing' is the wordplay.
'chinese' becomes 'han' (Chinese dynasty).
'regime' becomes 'diet' (eating regime).
'accepting' indicates putting letters inside (inserted letters are accepted).
'backing' becomes 's' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'diet' placed around 's' is 'diest'.
'han'+'diest'='HANDIEST'
'for' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for handiest that I've seen is " Most convenient".)