US President Donald Trump announced that his administration will boost tariffs on US$550 billion in Chinese imports in retaliation for China's decision on Friday to hike trade levies on $75 billion in US products.
The move deepens a trade war that many fear could tip the US and global economies into recession.
The president tweeted last Friday afternoon that the US tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese imports will increase from 25 per cent to 30 per cent on October 1. An additional $300 billion in Chinese goods will be taxed at 15 per cent, instead of 10 per cent, starting on September 1. The stepped-up tariffs means the US has hiked taxes on virtually all goods imported from China, reports CBS News.
"China should not have put new Tariffs on 75 BILLION DOLLARS of United States product (politically motivated!)," Mr Trump tweeted on Friday afternoon.
The Office of the US Trade Representative said in a statement that the U.S. tariffs on $300 billion in goods from China will take effect at the higher rate in two phases as previously scheduled - one on September 1 and one on December 15.
Mr Trump also said he was "ordering" US businesses to "immediately start looking for an alternative to China," including bringing their manufacturing back to the US. However, it wasn't clear how he planned to force companies to do so, given that many rely on China for manufacturing that's far more economical than is possible in the US.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and other policymakers warn that a prolonged trade war between the world's two largest economies could sap global growth.
2019/8/26 2:50:30