President Donald Trump on Friday announced increased tariffs in response to penalties China had levied that morning on $75 billion worth of US products — a wave of tariffs that were themselves a Chinese response to earlier US penalties.
These latest US levies, a development Trump waited to announce until after the stock market had closed, raise existing penalties on $250 billion in goods being imported from China to a 30 percent tax. They also levy an extra 5 percent tax — for a total of 15 percent — on another $300 billion in products that were set to be taxed starting September 1. The tariff hikes on the former goods are slated to go into effect on October 1.
Sadly, past Administrations have allowed China to get so far ahead of Fair and Balanced Trade that it has become a great burden to the American Taxpayer. As President, I can no longer allow this to happen! In the spirit of achieving Fair Trade, we must Balance this very….
For many years China (and many other countries) has been taking advantage of the United States on Trade, Intellectual Property Theft, and much more. Our Country has been losing HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS OF DOLLARS a year to China, with no end in sight….
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unfair Trading Relationship. China should not have put new Tariffs on 75 BILLION DOLLARS of United States product (politically motivated!). Starting on October 1st, the 250 BILLION DOLLARS of goods and products from China, currently being taxed at 25%, will be taxed at 30%…
Additionally, the remaining 300 BILLION DOLLARS of goods and products from China, that was being taxed from September 1st at 10%, will now be taxed at 15%. Thank you for your attention to this matter!
Trump’s move ups the ante on an increasingly tense trade war that’s causing growing fallout in the stock market. In anticipation of these taxes, the Dow dropped more than 600 points on Friday after Trump tweeted out a threat earlier in the day.
Trump said he would be raising planned tariffs on $300 billion in Chinese goods from 10% to 15%. The Office of the US Trade Representative also said existing tariffs on another $250 billion in Chinese imports would go from 25% to 30% on Oct. 1 after receiving feedback from the public.
The impact could be sweeping for consumers. “With each percentage point added to the tariff hikes, it becomes more and more difficult for importers not to pass the costs on to the US consumer,” said Wendy Cutler, a former US trade negotiator now at the Asia Society Policy Institute. “And this is not to mention the uncertainty that these increases contribute to the overall business environment.”
Trump acted hours after Beijing said it would hike tariffs on $75 billion in US imports, a move some economists fear could tip a fragile global economy into recession. Those tariffs applied to popular consumer goods including cellphones and clothing and are now scheduled for December 15, a timeline his Friday tweets did not comment on.
Trump’s use of tariffs is part of a larger protectionist strategy he’s employed in what he says is an effort to bring jobs back to the US, curb the US trade deficit, and hold China accountable for alleged intellectual property abuses. It seems the world’s two largest economies don’t seem set to resolve their differences anytime soon.
