China warns of 'necessary' retaliation if President Trump follows through with his threats to hike tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports
- The United States will raise tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports to 25 percent from 10 percent effective Friday, the White House has revealed
- US President Donald Trump said in a tweet that he would be ‘very happy with over $100 Billion a year in Tariffs filling U.S. coffers’
- In retaliation, China has promised to take ‘necessary countermeasures’ against the US if Washington follows through with the plan
- Joe Biden's deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield on Twitter criticized Trump, saying US farmers and small business owners will be the ones affected
The United States will raise tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports to 25 percent from 10 percent effective by the end of the week, according to a notice posted to the Federal Register on Wednesday.
The US Trade Representative’s office will establish a process to seek exclusions for certain products from additional tariffs, the Federal Register notice said.
President Donald Trump said in a tweet that he would be ‘very happy with over $100 Billion a year in Tariffs filling U.S. coffers.’
His comments followed a Reuters report that quoted US government and private-sector sources as saying China had backtracked on almost all aspects of a draft trade agreement with the United States.
The United States will raise tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports to 25 percent from 10 percent effective Friday, the White House have revealed
The US Trade Representative’s office will establish a process to seek exclusions for certain products from additional tariffs, the Federal Register notice said
Global equities tumbled toward five-week lows as the escalating trade fight fed worries about the world economy and investors sought the safety of bonds and the Japanese yen, which hit a six-week high against the US dollar.
In retaliation, China has promised to take ‘necessary countermeasures’ against the US if Washington follows through with the plan.
‘The escalation of trade friction is not in the interests of the people of the two countries and the people of the world,’ the ministry said. ‘The Chinese side deeply regrets that if the US tariff measures are implemented, China will have to take necessary countermeasures.’
The world's two largest economies have been embroiled in a tit-for-tat tariff war since July 2018 over US demands that the Asian powerhouse adopt policy changes that would, among other things, better protect American intellectual property and make China's market more accessible to US companies.
Expectations were recently riding high that a deal could be reached but a deep rift over the language of the proposed agreement opened up last weekend.
In retaliation, China has promised to take ‘necessary countermeasures’ against the US if Washington follows through with the plan
US President Donald Trump said in a tweet that he would be ‘very happy with over $100 Billion a year in Tariffs filling U.S. coffers.’
The announcement came just hours after Trump tweeted that officials in Beijing has ‘informed’ the White House that Chinese Vice Premier Liu He was ‘coming to the US to make a deal’.
The claim was backed-up by White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, claiming the Trump administration had received ‘indications’ from China that the country would be interested in cutting a deal.
Those ‘indications’, however, were not elaborated upon by Sanders and no further explanation was issued.
The President’s declaration that Beijing is looking to strike an agreement also followed an earlier tweet, in which Trump claimed to know why China backed away from the negotiating table.
Trump said China is hoping that a Democrat becomes president in the 2020 election and the new administration will abandon the aggressive trading strategy.
‘The reason for the China pullback & attempted renegotiation of the Trade Deal is the sincere HOPE that they will be able to 'negotiate' with Joe Biden or one of the very weak Democrats,’ Trump tweeted on Wednesday.
In response, Biden's deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield on Twitter criticized Trump, saying US farmers, small business owners and consumers are the ones hit by the tariff battle.
Joe Biden's deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield on Twitter criticized Trump, saying US farmers and small business owners will be the ones affected
US stock indexes rebounded slightly from this week's earlier losses after her comments, but the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed in negative territory amid caution over trade and some disappointing earnings.
The United States is demanding Beijing make sweeping changes to its trade and regulatory practices, including protecting U.S. intellectual property from theft and forced transfers to Chinese firms, curbs on Chinese government subsidies and increased American access to China's markets.
Trump also has sought massive hikes in Chinese purchases of US farm, energy and manufactured products to shrink a gaping US trade deficit with China.
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Sources familiar with the talks said China's latest demands for changes to a 150-page document that had been drafted over several months would make it hard to avoid the US tariff hike on Friday. That increase would affect Chinese imports from computer modems and routers to vacuum cleaners, furniture, lighting and building materials.
Scott Kennedy, a China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said the talks were at a delicate stage and much depended on what sort of proposal Liu is bringing to Washington.
'I think the Trump administration is quite serious about imposing tariffs,’ Kennedy said. ‘I don't think Liu He would have agreed to come if he was just going to give the US a lecture.’
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