The US prepared to hit China with new tariffs even as US President Donald Trump said he would meet Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) at next month’s G20 summit, an encounter that could prove pivotal in a deepening clash over trade.
The US Trade Representative’s (USTR) office on Monday released a list of about US$300 billion of Chinese goods, including children’s clothing, toys, mobile phones and laptops, that Trump has threatened to hit with a 25 percent tariff.
If the president proceeds with the tariffs, it would see almost all imports from China covered by punitive duties.
Photo: EPA-EFE
It also would turn the president’s trade disputes into a tangible reality for many Americans as he seeks re-election.
At the same time, Trump is sounding optimistic about the chances of a deal.
“When the time is right we will make a deal with China. My respect and friendship with President Xi is unlimited but, as I have told him many times before, this must be a great deal for the United States or it just doesn’t make any sense,” he tweeted yesterday.
Photo: AFP
Under a process outlined by US officials, the new tariffs would not take effect until late next month at the earliest, but that could come just as Trump meets with Xi on the sidelines of a G20 meeting on June 28 and 29 in Osaka, Japan, raising the stakes in an already escalating trade war.
Trump earlier on Monday warned Beijing not to go too far in responding to US trade actions, after his move last week to increase import duties on a separate US$200 billion tranche of imports from China.
“There can be some retaliation, but it can’t be very substantial,” Trump told reporters at the White House during a meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
The release of the additional tariffs list and the continuing escalation it signals drew an outcry from business groups that have been lobbying against the duties.
The USTR said that the new tariffs would not apply to pharmaceuticals or rare earths.
“We support the administration’s efforts to deliver a meaningful trade agreement that levels the playing field for American businesses and workers,” National Retail Federation president and CEO Matthew Shay said in a statement. “But the latest tariff escalation is far too great a gamble for the US economy.”
Economists have warned that the existing tariffs would hurt US growth, but they are also worried an escalation to cover all trade from China and the Chinese retaliation it would provoke would do far more damage and could even tip the US economy into recession.
China on Monday announced plans to raise duties on about US$60 billion in US imports starting June 1, defying a call from Trump to resist escalating the trade dispute.
Less than two hours after Trump tweeted a warning that “China should not retaliate — will only get worse!” the Chinese Ministry of Finance unveiled the measures on its Web site.
The new rate of 25 percent is to apply to 2,493 US products, with other goods subject to duties ranging from 5 percent to 20 percent, it said.
Higher US tariffs would drive up the US Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of underlying inflation, and further escalation could raise consumer prices even more and dent US growth, Goldman Sachs Group Inc economists said in a research note.
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
UKRAINE, NVIDIA: The US leader said the subject of Russia’s war had come up ‘very strongly,’ while Jenson Huang was hoping that the conversation was good Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and US President Donald Trump had differing takes following their meeting in Busan, South Korea, yesterday. Xi said that the two sides should complete follow-up work as soon as possible to deliver tangible results that would provide “peace of mind” to China, the US and the rest of the world, while Trump hailed the “great success” of the talks. The two discussed trade, including a deal to reduce tariffs slapped on China for its role in the fentanyl trade, as well as cooperation in ending the war in Ukraine, among other issues, but they did not mention
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi yesterday lavished US President Donald Trump with praise and vows of a “golden age” of ties on his visit to Tokyo, before inking a deal with Washington aimed at securing critical minerals. Takaichi — Japan’s first female prime minister — pulled out all the stops for Trump in her opening test on the international stage and even announced that she would nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize, the White House said. Trump has become increasingly focused on the Nobel since his return to power in January and claims to have ended several conflicts around the world,
GLOBAL PROJECT: Underseas cables ‘are the nervous system of democratic connectivity,’ which is under stress, Member of the European Parliament Rihards Kols said The government yesterday launched an initiative to promote global cooperation on improved security of undersea cables, following reported disruptions of such cables near Taiwan and around the world. The Management Initiative on International Undersea Cables aims to “bring together stakeholders, align standards, promote best practices and turn shared concerns into beneficial cooperation,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said at a seminar in Taipei. The project would be known as “RISK,” an acronym for risk mitigation, information sharing, systemic reform and knowledge building, he said at the seminar, titled “Taiwan-Europe Subsea Cable Security Cooperation Forum.” Taiwan sits at a vital junction on
RSS