TRUMP TO UNVEIL NEW CHINA TARIFFS?

Announcement on 10pc levy on items that include tech and consumer goods may be as early as today

UNITED States President Donald Trump is likely to announce new tariffs on about US$200 billion (RM827.7 billion) on Chinese imports as early as today, a senior administration official said on Saturday.

The tariff level will probably be about 10 per cent, the Wall Street Journal said, quotingsources.

This is below the 25 per cent the administration said it was considering for this possible round of tariffs.

The upcoming tariffs will be on a list of items that included US$200 billion worth of Internet technology products and other electronics, printed circuit boards and consumer goods including Chinese seafood, furniture and lighting products, tires, chemicals, plastics, bicycles and car seats for babies.

It was unclear if the administration will exempt any of the products that were on the list, which was announced in July.

On Friday, White House spokesman 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,” she said.

Trump had 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 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 US$375 billion trade surplus with the United States, end policies aimed at acquiring US technologies 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. Treasury invited senior Chinese officials, including vice-premier Liu He, for more talks.

The administration has already levied duties on US$50 billion worth of Chinese goods following a study on China’s intellectual property practices released earlier this year.

On September 7, Trump warned that he had further tariffs ready to go on US$267 billion worth of Chinese imports beyond those targeted this week.

If all of the tariffs were invoked, total imports from China facing tariffs would exceed the US$505 billion in goods that the US imported from China last year.

This year, imports from China through July were up nearly nine per cent from the same period of last year, according to US Census Bureau data.