Trump: Time to take a stand on China

US president’s biggest strike yet will see a 10% duty applied to $200b of imports from Asian powerhouse

US President Donald Trump continued to hit out at China days after announcing another round of tariffs, signalling the trade war won’t end anytime soon.

“It’s time to take a stand on China,” Trump said in an interview late Thursday with Fox News. “We have no choice. It’s been a long time. They’re hurting us.”

Trump’s biggest strike yet in a growing trade fight between the world’s biggest economies will see a 10 per cent duty applied to $200 billion of Chinese imports, which could rise to 25 per cent next year. He’s threatened duties on a further $267 billion of made-in-China goods, which would hit nearly all other consumer products including mobile phones, shoes and clothes.

The latest round of duties comes on top of a 25 per cent tariff already imposed on about $50 billion in Chinese goods, which spurred counter-tariffs from Beijing. China plans to retaliate on the US’s $200 billion tariff round by slapping levies on $60 billion of American goods.

Officials in Beijing worry Trump’s latest tariff salvos mark a steady march toward a long-term competition that could thwart China’s rise. Trump’s latest comments and the ascendancy of China hawks within his administration will only compound such concerns.

Defence penalties

Adding to frictions, China yesterday demanded the US withdraw penalties it placed on a defence agency and its director for purchasing Russian weapons in violation of American sanctions or “bear the consequences.”

The Trump administration hasn’t put a process in place for companies to get exemptions from the most recent tariffs it’s imposing, unlike earlier rounds of the duties, four people familiar with the matter said. The U.S has justified its decision by saying that it’s giving companies more than three months to transition their supply chains away from China before the tariff rate increases, according to one of the people.

A spokeswoman with the US Trade Representative’s office said there was no announcement at this time regarding an exclusion process for tariffs on the $200 billion of goods.

The decision is likely to put additional pressure on American companies that say Trump’s trade dispute with Beijing is increasing uncertainty and boosting costs. Industry groups including the National Retail Federation have been pushing the administration to spare firms and consumers from import tariffs.

“Companies cannot shift their supply chains on a dime. It takes months, if not years, to find new suppliers who can meet all of a retailer’s sourcing requirements,” according to the federation’s vice president of supply chain and customs policy, Jonathan Gold. “These tariffs will unfairly punish US companies and ultimately US consumers.”