APP – “President Trump will announce new tariffs worth billions of dollars on Chinese imports on Thursday (Today), a senior White House official said, a move seen to set off a trade war between world's top two economies.
“The President will announce the actions he has decided to take based on USTR's (United States Trade Representative) 301 investigation,” White House deputy press secretary Raj Shah said on Wednesday, accusing China of being “lax” on intellectual property and “market-distorting efforts.”
He did not gave any specific details, but some media reports said this week that President Trump was planning to apply tariffs up to $60 billion on imports from China, which has reportedly threatened to take matching actions.
The proposed tariffs hike will target more than 100 Chinese products and is being imposed by President Trump, who alleged that these products were manufactured by China using “trade secrets” from American companies.
According to the reports, senior aides had provided with a $30 billion tariff package, but President Trump asked to double them. Many have expressed fear that this would invite Chinese retaliation, sparking a trade war between the two economic giants that could not only hurt the US economy, but may have larger impact.
An official of the USTR, in a call with reporters on Wednesday said that he could not provide details of the investigation, but added that it was up to the President to take a decision. Under the rarely used Section 301 of the trade law, the president has the power to take unilateral action to retaliate against China over its trade practices.
The new tariffs against China comes a day before the 25 percent on imported steel and 10 percent on aluminum imports, announced by President Trump comes into effect. Amid threats of the a backlash, however, President Trump exempted its vital trading partners Canada and Mexico from the new measures and there is a possibility that more countries could be excluded. The European Union have warned that it could enact retaliatory measures.
Many business groups have already expressed their concern over the proposed China-specific tariffs who say that their products made in China will be caught in the net of new tariffs, leading to higher prices for consumers on everything from shoes to electronics. They have reported written letters to President Trump to either curtail or kill the tariff plans.
