Trump ups ante on China, threatens duties on nearly all its imports

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump warned on Friday he was ready to slap tariffs on virtually all Chinese imports into the United States, threatening duties on another US$267bil of goods on top of US$200bil in imports primed for levies in coming days.

The moves would sharply escalate Trump’s trade war with Beijing over his demands for major changes in economic, trade and technology policy. China has threatened retaliation, which could include action against US companies operating there.

Hours after a public comment period closed on his US$200bil China tariff list, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he was “being strong on China because I have to be.”

“The US$200bil we are talking about could take place very soon depending on what happens with them. To a certain extent it’s going to be up to China,” Trump said.

“And I hate to say this, but behind that is another US$267bil ready to go on short notice if I want. That totally changes the equation.”

Stock prices slipped after his comments, with the S&P 500 off 0.2%, while China’s off-shore trade yuan currency fell against the dollar.

There was no immediate reaction to Trump’s comments from the Chinese government, and the threat of more tariffs had not been reported by mainstream state-owned Chinese media as of Saturday evening.

Trump has already imposed 25% tariffs on US$50bil worth of Chinese goods, mostly industrial machinery and intermediate electronics parts, including semiconductors.

The US$200bil list, which includes some consumer products such as cameras and recording devices, luggage, handbags, tires and vacuum cleaners, would be subject to tariffs of 10% to 25%.

Cell phones, the biggest US import from China, have so far been spared, but would be engulfed if Trump activates the US$267bil tariff list.

Trump’s threatened tariffs, now totaling US$517bil in Chinese goods, would exceed the US$505bil in goods imported from China last year. But 2018 imports from China through July were up nearly 9% over the same period of 2017, according to US Census Bureau data.

Earlier on Friday, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told Bloomberg Television the administration would evaluate public comments before making decisions on the US$200bil tariff list.

The US Trade Representative’s office received nearly 6,000 comments and held seven days of public hearings on the proposed levies.

Most comments were from companies seeking to remove products from the tariff list, arguing there were few, if any alternative sources and the duties would cause finan- cial hardship.

Comparatively few applauded the tariffs.

Major technology company Apple Inc said a “wide range” of its products would be hit by the tariffs, but not its iPhone.

It said in a late submission that its AirPods headphones, some of Apple’s Beats headphones, and its new HomePod smart speaker would face levies, causing its shares to slip in late trading.

“Our concern with these tariffs is that the United States will be hardest hit, and that will result in lower US growth and competitiveness and higher prices for US consumers,” Apple said in the letter.

Retailers had successfully kept high-profile consumer electronics such as cell phones and television sets off of previous tariff lists.

And I hate to say this, but behind that is another US$267bil ready to go on short notice if I want.

Donald Trump