Donald Trump ready to hit all Chinese imports with tariffs

President Donald Trump has indicated that he’s willing to hit every product imported from China with tariffs and again criticized the Federal Reserve, as well as some of the nation’s biggest trading partners.

The comments sent U.S. markets sliding early Friday.

In a taped interview with the business channel CNBC, Trump said “I’m willing to go to 500,” referring roughly to the $505.5 billion in goods imported last year from China.

The administration to date has slapped tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese goods in a trade dispute over what it calls the nation’s predatory practices.

China has retaliated with duties of its own, hitting U.S. imports of soybeans and pork. The administration July 10 announced a second possible round targeting $200 billion worth of goods. Beijing vowed “firm and forceful measures” in response.

Beijing is targeting sectors, like agriculture, that could harm Trump politically at home, though he said in the CNBC interview that he is seeking to do only what is fair.

“I’m not doing this for politics, I’m doing this to do the right thing for our country,” Trump said. “We have been ripped off by China for a long time.”

China does not have the wherewithal to match the U.S. on tariffs, but it has other tools.

China’s central bank is allowing its tightly controlled currency to drift lower against the dollar, a move that could help Chinese exporters cope with U.S. tariff hikes. However, such a manoeuvr could also reignite an outflow of capital Beijing spent months trying to stanch.

On Friday, the yuan dipped to a 12-month low of 6.8 to the dollar, off by 7.6 per cent since mid-february.

Over the past three years, Beijing has gradually widened the narrow band in which the yuan is allowed to fluctuate, though regulators intervene regularly to guide its movement.

With trade tensions rising, so is the pushback in the U.S. from private business that see potentially devastating ramifications, not only from China, but from Europe, Canada, and other countries in Asia.

Trump has ordered Commerce to investigate whether auto imports pose a threat to U.S. national security that would justify tariffs or other trade restrictions. Earlier this year, he used national security as a justification for taxing imported steel and aluminum.