Trump tariffs are ‘bid to force China’s hand because it failed to convince US it was sincere about opening up economy’
Senior official says White House slapped US$60bn tariffs on imports because Beijing had failed to live up to its commitments
The United States wants to force Beijing to change its economic and trade policies because the White House is not convinced by China’s recent promise to open up, a senior US official said.
The proposed tariffs by Donald Trump on US$60 billion worth of Chinese products were also designed to counter the threat of China emerging as a major technology competitor, the official said.
There is “a clear and long-standing pattern of behaviour” [by China] that contributed to the current imbalance and action was long-overdue, the official added.
The official also said China had failed to fulfil a 100-day plan agreed by the two countries last year to further open China’s financial services and agriculture markets.
“We thought that would be low-hanging fruit. We thought that would be easy for them to achieve … but they missed half of that list,” said the official, citing slow progress on electronic payment systems and biotech approvals.
Trump signed off on the measures, including hefty tariffs on Chinese goods, targeting what he called Beijing’s economic aggression following a six-month-long investigation under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974.