US President Donald Trump has said he is “ready to go” with respect to the introduction of tariffs on $500 billion of Chinese imports, as trade tensions between Washington and Beijing continue to show no signs of easing.
“I’m not doing this for politics; I’m doing this to do the right for our country,” Trump told CNBC in an interview. “We are being taken advantage of and I don’t like it.”
Tariffs on $500 billion of goods would amount to roughly the entire Chinese export market to the US in 2017. US futures on S&P and European indices fell following Trump’s interview comments.
Negotiations between the US and China have not resumed since the last round in Beijing in June, with both sides accusing the other of unproductive and inhibiting behaviour. In recent weeks China has called the White House’s tactics tantamount to “bullying” whilst Trump’s chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow has accused President Xi Jinping of deliberately stalling on further talks.