Trump threatens tariffs on nearly all of China’s U.S. imports
U.S. President Donald Trump warned on Friday he was ready to slap tariffs on virtually all Chinese imports into the United States, threatening duties on another $267 billion of goods on top of $200 billion in imports primed for levies in coming days. Ed Giles reports.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday (September 8) upped the ante on China, threatening to slap tariffs on virtually all Chinese imports coming in to the U.S.
Trump said on Air Force One that he was ready to launch tariffs on 200 billion dollars worth of imports in the coming days.
And then he went further, saying he’s also ready to hit another 267 billion worth of imports right after.
(SOUNDBITE) U.S. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP (English):
“The $200 billion we are talking about could take place very soon depending on what happens with them. To a certain extent it’s going to be up to China… And I hate to say this, but behind that is another $267 billion ready to go on short notice if I want. That totally changes the equation.”
The move would sharply escalate a trade war with Beijing, launched over demands from the White House for major changes in economic, trade and technology policy by China.
Stocks dipped after the comments, with the S&P500 off 0.2 percent.
The Chinese yuan also fell against the dollar.
White House Economic advisor Larry Kudlow told CNBC that talks between the U.S. and China were ongoing.
But so far China had not met the Trump administration’s requests.
On Friday (September 8), Kudlow also told Bloomberg the administration would consider public comments before making a final call on the 200 billion list.
That list includes some consumer products, like cameras, luggage and tires and they’d be subject to tariffs of 10-25 percent.
Cell phones are the biggest U.S. import from China, and so far they’ve been spared.
But, they’d also be hit by the threatened 267 billion dollar list.
Trump’s now threatened tariffs on a total of 517 billion dollars in Chinese imports – a figure that eclipses the total amount of goods imported from China to the U.S. last year.
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