China ‘to be punished with US$60 billion in annual tariffs on Friday, increasing risks of trade war’
Trump has been vague on what the package involves, but it is likely to cover much more than just the previously announced steel and aluminium tariffs
US President Donald Trump is preparing to impose a package of US$60 billion in annual tariffs against China, following through on a long-time threat that he says will punish Beijing for intellectual property infringement and create more American jobs.
The tariff package, which Trump plans to unveil by Friday, was confirmed by four senior administration officials.
Senior aides had presented Trump with a US$30 billion tariff package that would apply to a range of products, but Trump directed them to roughly double the scope of the new trade levies.
The package could be applied to more than 100 products, which Trump argues were developed by using trade secrets the Chinese stole from US companies or forced them to hand over in exchange for market access.
Trump has been vague on what the package involves, but it is likely to cover much more than just the previously announced steel and aluminium tariffs, since China exports relatively small amounts of those metals to the US.
