Trump ready to impose new tariffs on $200bn-worth Chinese goods
President Donald Trump is going ahead with plans to impose new tariffs on about $200 billion of Chinese imports, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday. Last week, Trump said such a move could come "very soon". The Journal cited unnamed people familiar with the matter who said the tariff level will likely be set at about 10%, below the 25% announced earlier. Here's more.
US, China already imposed 25% tariffs on each other's goods
The report comes as the US and China prepare to hold new talks on their tariff dispute. Both the governments have already imposed 25% tariffs on $50 billion of each other's goods. Meanwhile, Beijing has also issued a list of another $60 billion worth of American products for retaliation if President Trump's next tariff hike goes ahead.
Encourage China to address long-standing concerns raised by US: WH
Meanwhile, White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters declined to comment on the timing of a possible announcement of the new tariffs. However, she said, "The President 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 United States," Walters added.
The US-China trade conflict could affect global economic growth
The US, Europe, and other trading partners say China's plans violate the country's market-opening commitments. American officials also worry such Chinese plans might erode the US industrial leadership. Forecasters have warned the worsening trade conflict between the US and China, world's two biggest traders, could cut up to 0.5 percentage point off global economic growth through 2020 if all threatened tariff hikes go ahead.
Chinese Foreign Ministry invited for talks with US
The Chinese Foreign Ministry, earlier on Thursday, said that it was invited to hold new talks with the US. Envoys from the two countries last met on August 22 in Washington but reported no progress. Beijing has rejected pressure from the US to roll back plans for the state-led development of Chinese global champions in robotics, artificial intelligence, and other fields.
China tried to recruit other countries as allies against US
China has, meanwhile, tried without success to recruit Germany, France, South Korea, and other governments as allies against the US. While some of them have criticized Trump's tactics but many echo the US's complaints about Chinese market barriers and industrial strategy.
