New tariffs on Chinese goods
US President Donald Trump is likely to announce new tariffs on about $200bn of Chinese imports as early as Monday, a senior US administration official said.
US President Donald Trump is likely to announce new tariffs on about $200bn on Chinese imports as early as Monday, a senior administration official told Reuters on Saturday.
The tariff level will probably be about 10%, the Wall Street Journal reported, quoting people familiar with the matter. This is below the 25% the administration said it was considering for this possible round of tariffs.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The coming tariffs will be on a list of items that includes $200bn worth of internet technology products and other electronics, printed circuit boards and consumer goods such as Chinese seafood, furniture and lighting products, tyres, chemicals, plastics, bicycles and car seats for babies.
It is unclear if the administration will exempt any of the products that were on the list, which was announced in July.
On Friday, White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said Trump “has been clear that he and his administration will continue to take action to address China’s unfair trade practices. We encourage China to address the long-standing concerns raised by the US.” Trump has already directed aides to proceed with tariffs, despite treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin’s attempts to restart trade talks with China.
One observer in the business sector said the administration may have reduced its planned tariff level after hearing public comments, hoping companies would not immediately hike prices for consumer goods in order to pass along the costs. Still, the additional tariffs could complicate trade talks with China expected later this month.
Trump has demanded that China cut its $375bn trade surplus with the US, end policies aimed at acquiring US technology and intellectual property and roll back high-tech industrial subsidies.
This week, the world’s two largest economies appeared to be making progress on trade. The treasury invited senior Chinese officials, including vicepremier Liu He, for more talks.
The administration has already levied duties on $50bn worth of Chinese goods following a study on China’s intellectual property practices.
On September 7 Trump warned he had further tariffs ready on $267bn worth of Chinese imports beyond those that will be targeted this week. If all the tariffs were invoked, total imports from China facing tariffs would exceed the $505bn in goods that the US imported from China last year.
Imports from China to endJuly were up nearly 9% from the same period of 2017, Census Bureau data showed.