President Trump has once again raised the bets on the deepening trade disputes between the US and China, saying late Thursday that his administration was considering a further $100 billion of tariffs on Chinese imports.
The comments come just a week after the President unveiled a list of 1,300 new tariffs on manufacturing and electrical products worth around $50 billion for the coming year.
During a White House statement Trump said any new measures would be “in light of China’s unfair retaliation” which has the potential to “harm our farmers and manufacturers”, referring to Beijing’s implementation of $50 billion of their own tariffs on a range of US goods sold in China.
The nature of the products that will be subject to any further tariffs is still unclear, however the most recent round of levies targeted those seen as instrumental to China’s ambitions to modernise its manufacturing capabilities. President Trump has strongly criticised what he sees as unfair, and perhaps illegal, trade practices by Chinese companies, particularly with respect to the acquisition of intellectual property.
In a related point, Trump has also called on China to reduce its $375 billion a year trade surplus, as of 2017, by at least $100 billion.
Chinese officials are yet to respond to the latest tariff threats by the US.
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