US manufacturers called for the imposition of tariffs on Chinese imports after it emerged that the country’s trade deficit with China for 2005 is on course to surpass US$200 billion, agencies reported. Commerce Department figures showed the total US trade deficit stood at US$64.2 billion for November, the China deficit accounting for one quarter of this. For the 11 months to November, the deficit with reached US$185 billion and is expected to exceed US$200 billion when December’s figures are added. �The United States can no longer allow China to use predatory trade practices to destroy US jobs and factories,� said Auggie Tantillo, executive director of the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition (AMTAC).