US President Donald Trump’s administration on Wednesday made official its extra 5 percent tariff on US$300 billion in Chinese imports and set collection dates of Sept. 1 and Dec. 15, prompting hundreds of US retail, footwear, toy and technology companies to warn of price hikes.
The Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) said in an official notice that collections of a 15 percent tariff is to begin at 12:01am on Sunday on a portion of the list covering more than US$125 billion of targeted goods from China.
This initial tranche includes smartwatches, Bluetooth headphones, flat-panel televisions and many types of footwear.
Photo: AFP
US Customs and Border Protection will also start collecting a 15 percent tariff on Dec. 15 on the remainder of the US$300 billion list, including cellphones, laptops, toys and clothing, USTR said in the Federal Register filing.
Trump announced the increase to 15 percent from 10 percent on Friday last week on Twitter, escalating the bitter US-China trade dispute after Beijing hit back with retaliatory tariffs on US$75 billion of US goods, including crude oil.
A USTR spokesman on Wednesday said that the agency would issue a separate Federal Register notice with details of Trump’s planned tariff increase to 30 percent on US$250 billion in goods that have already been hit with a 25 percent tariff, including procedures for collecting public comments on the move.
While Trump in recent days has reversed his aggressive China trade rhetoric, that has not translated to a retreat from the planned tax hikes.
It remains unclear whether US and Chinese negotiators will resume in-person talks next month as previously suggested by US officials.
Trump, speaking by telephone to a farm trade show audience in Decatur, Illinois, said that he could do a “quick deal” with China to boost his re-election prospects next year.
However, “that will be the wrong deal,” he said, adding that he preferred to “do it in a right way.”
He said the latter approach requires a tougher stance and longer negotiations.
Trump added that federal aid to farmers was being funded by tariff collections on Chinese goods.
US Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin said that US trade officials expect Chinese negotiators to visit Washington, but would not say whether a previously planned meeting next month would take place.
“We continue to have conversations. We’re planning for them to come,” Mnuchin said on Wednesday in an interview.
Hundreds of retailers, footwear companies and business groups urged Trump to scrap the proposed tariffs, warning they would jack up consumer prices and trigger job losses.
More than 200 US footwear companies said the added 15 percent duties on shoes would come on top of tariffs that already average 11 percent and reach 67 percent on some footwear, boosting costs for consumers by US$4 billion every year.
“Imposing tariffs in September on the majority of all footwear products from China — including nearly every type of leather shoe — will make it impossible for hardworking American individuals and families to escape the harm that comes from these tax increases,” the companies wrote in a letter to Trump.
More than 160 other business groups, including the National Retail Federation, Retail Industry Leaders Association and Association of Equipment Manufacturers, also urged Trump to postpone the tariffs, warning they would hit Americans in the middle of the busy holiday shopping season.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
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