Trade war talk heats up between U.S. and China
WASHINGTON — President Trump has directed the U.S. Trade Representative to prepare new tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports as the two nations move closer to a trade war.
In response, China has threatened what it called “comprehensive measures,” raising the risk that it would target operations of major American companies in China.
Trump’s proposed new tariffs would amount to the latest round of punitive steps in an escalating dispute between the world’s two largest economies. The two appear to be edging toward a trade fight that analysts say would undermine both their economies and likely slow global growth.
The White House has accused China of forcing U.S. companies to share advanced technology with Chinese partners as a condition of doing business there. The administration also revived its complaints Tuesday about America’s gaping trade deficit with China, which it says reflects an unfair trading relationship.
Trump previously ordered tariffs on $50 billion in Chinese goods in retaliation for Beijing’s forced transfer of U.S. technology and for intellectual property theft. Those tariffs were matched by China’s threat to penalize on U.S. exports, a move that drew the president’s ire.
Neither side has yet imposed tariffs on the other in their growing dispute over technology and the U.S. trade gap; the first round is to take effect on July 6. But the rhetoric is intensifying.
The president asserted in a statement Monday night that China is determined “to keep the United States at a permanent and unfair disadvantage.”
“China apparently has no intention of changing its unfair practices related to the acquisition of American intellectual property and technology,” Trump said in the statement. “Rather than altering those practices, it is now threatening United States companies, workers, and farmers who have done nothing wrong.”
U.S. stock markets fell sharply Tuesday, with investors increasingly nervous about the impact of the escalating fight.
Should China impose its proposed expanded tariffs, Trump warned, that he would slap duties on an additional $200 billion of Chinese imports. All told, Trump is now threatening to penalize up to $450 billion of Chinese goods — a value representing about 90 percent of Chinese imports last year.
China’s Commerce Ministry assailed Trump’s latest threat, saying it was an “act of extreme pressure and blackmail.”
“If the U.S. becomes irrational and issues this list, China will have no choice but to adopt strong countermeasures of the same amount and quality,” the statement said.