In abrupt move, Donald Trump says 10 per cent China tariffs will rise to 25 per cent on Friday
- Trump announced the move on Twitter, suggesting he was not satisfied with the pace of negotiations
- Chinese President Xi Jinping’s top trade envoy, Liu He, returns to Washington this week for what could be a closing round of trade talks
US President Donald Trump said punitive tariffs on US$200 billion of imports from China will increase to 25 per cent from 10 per cent on Friday and might slap extra duties on the rest of what the country ships to the US.
Trump’s announcement on Twitter comes just days before Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He is due to arrive in Washington for an 11th round of negotiations aimed at ending a bilateral tariff war that started when Washington levied a first round of punitive tariffs on Chinese imports in July 2018.
The president’s move follows signals that the most recent round of talks in Beijing last week did not yield progress on some US demands, including a curtailment of Chinese government subsidies to the country’s state-owned enterprises – one of the factors that prompted the US government to start the trade war.
A remaining US$325 billion in Chinese goods still untouched by the stand-off will become subject to the 25 per cent “soon”, said Trump, who added that he’s moving ahead with more tariffs because Beijing was moving “too slowly, as they attempt to renegotiate”.
Trump imposed duties of 25 per cent on an initial US$50 billion of Chinese goods and then 10 per cent on an additional US$200 billion in products. The step up to 25 per cent on the later tranche was put on hold after talks between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Argentina in December.