Trump Can’t Just Stop, Slaps Additional Tariffs on China

• Trump Can’t Just Stop, Slaps Additional Tariffs on China

President Trump has carried out his threat of additional tariffs after accusing China of intentionally slowing down trade talks.

President Trump raised tariffs on US$200 billion worth of Chinese goods and already planning to tax other Chinese imports not covered in the current tax net for what he termed ‘Chinese attempt to renegotiate a trade deal.’

“We were getting very close to a deal then they started to renegotiate the deal,” Mr. Trump said. “We can’t have that.”

The decision was after a meeting between Washington and China on Thursday failed to yield a positive result.

While the White House said talks would resume again on Friday, it remains uncertain whether the two sides would agree given their differences in recent weeks.

Despite Trump threatening and imposing additional tariffs on China amid trade talks, he said a deal could still happen in one of his comments.

He claimed to have received a positive letter from President Xi Jinping of China and would likely speak to him on phone.

“I have no idea what’s going to happen,” he said. “They’ll see what they can do, but our alternative is, is an excellent one,” Mr. Trump added, noting that American tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese products were bringing “billions” into the United States already.

However, Chinese officials in the US said their decision to visit and meet with the President after the tariff threat showed that they are serious about making things work. According to them, they are unclear whether the world’s second-largest economy, China, will accept the changes that the Trump administration is demanding, including codifying most of the agreement into Chinese law.

“I come here facing pressure,” Liu He, China’s vice premier, said on Thursday in an interview with China Central Television in Washington. “That expresses China’s greatest sincerity. And we want to resolve some of the differences we face honestly, confidently and rationally. I think there is hope.”

Experts at Investors King Ltd said “China is trying to force Trump to make adjustments to his previous position, knowing he needs the result of the outcome for his second-term presidential campaign. Trump, on the other hand, refused to back down despite the significance of the outcome to his campaign.”

Trump’s decision to increase tariffs has upped global risk level as investors have started jumping on haven assets for safety.