Trump plans to levy heavy tariff on China products as soon as this week
Trump administration plans to impose tariffs worth as much as $60 billion on Chinese products as early as this week to punish Beijing for what the US perceives as intellectual property theft from American businesses, according to two people familiar with the matter.
US trade representative Robert Lighthizer is leading an investigation into China’s treatment of intellectual property, and policies that the US believes force American companies to turn over their technological knowhow as the price of doing business there.
The administration is said to be considering wide-ranging tariffs on everything from consumer electronics to shoes and clothing made in China, as well as restrictions on Chinese investments in the US, according to people briefed on the matter.
The exact size and makeup of the sanctions could still change, said two people who spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions aren’t public.
While Trump has repeatedly singled out China as a key trade violator, his toughest actions such as withdrawing from an Asia-Pacific trade pact — which excluded China — and slapping tariffs on steel have undermined relations with allies more than with the world’s second-biggest economy.
The Washington Post reported earlier Monday that the administration planned to impose $60 billion worth of tariffs by Friday, after the president rejected a proposal by his officials to levy $30 billion in duties.
Sweeping US tariffs will test the resolve of Chinese President Xi Jinping, whose government has so far reacted in a measured fashion to Trump’s repeated complaints about the US’s record $375 billion deficit with China.
China made further promises to protect the intellectual property of foreigners investing in its economy, addressing a long-standing grievance as US President Donald Trump plans new tariffs aimed at Beijing.
Speaking Tuesday at the end of the annual National People’s Congress, Premier Li Keqiang said that China wants to avoid a trade war and that the government plans to further open the manufacturing sector -- and that it won’t force foreign companies to transfer technology to domestic ones while doing so.
Li’s comments followed reports late Monday in Washington that the White House plans to impose tariffs worth as much as $60 billion on Chinese products as one outcome of an investigation by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, extracting recompense for theft of intellectual property and investment policies that make technology transfer a precondition for doing business in China.
“Businesses are very much in a position that they want to see China take action, and talking about it isn’t sufficient any more,” John Frisbie, president of the US-China Business Council, said of Li’s speech.
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