Earlier this month President Trump threatened to place a 10 percent tariff on over $300 billion of Chinese goods. On Friday, August 23, China announced that it will be imposing tariffs between 5 and 10 percent on $75 billion of U.S. goods as well as resuming tariffs on American autos.
The Trade War
As retaliation to the announcement of 10 percent tariffs on Chinese goods Trump had made a few days ago, China announced that they too would be putting tariffs on U.S. goods. The Chinese State Council has decided that tariffs- ranging between 5 and 10 percent- will be placed on $75 billion of U.S. goods. These tariffs will be going into effect on September 1 and December 15, which is also when Trump’s latest tariffs on China will also be taking effect.
“In response to the measures by the U.S., China was forced to take countermeasures,” the Chinese State Council said in a statement. “The Chinese side hopes that the U.S. will continue to follow the consensus of the Osaka meeting, return to the correct track of consultation and resolve differences, and work hard with China to end the goal of ending economic and trade frictions.” [1]
As a response to China’s new tariffs, Trump said that he was ordering all U.S. postal carriers, including FedEx, Amazon, UPS and United States Post Office, “to SEARCH FOR & REFUSE all deliveries of Fentanyl from China (or anywhere else!).” He also encouraged “great American companies” to make their products in the U.S. instead of overseas.
….your companies HOME and making your products in the USA. I will be responding to China’s Tariffs this afternoon. This is a GREAT opportunity for the United States. Also, I am ordering all carriers, including Fed Ex, Amazon, UPS and the Post Office, to SEARCH FOR & REFUSE,….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 23, 2019
….all deliveries of Fentanyl from China (or anywhere else!). Fentanyl kills 100,000 Americans a year. President Xi said this would stop – it didn’t. Our Economy, because of our gains in the last 2 1/2 years, is MUCH larger than that of China. We will keep it that way!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 23, 2019
It’s unclear as to whether his announcement, which was made via Twitter, is an official order from the president. The White House has not yet commented on his tweets.
More Negotiations
Although Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping had reached a cease-fire at the G-20 summit in July, the truce was ended shortly after when China allegedly did not keep their end of the bargain by buying the amount of U.S. goods that they had agreed to. Another meeting to resume negotiations is scheduled for early September. [2]
Notes:
- ^Li, Yun. “China will retaliate with tariffs on $75 billion more of US goods and resume auto tariffs.” CNBC, 23 Aug. 2019, www.cnbc.com/2019/08/23/china-to-retaliate-with-new-tariffs-on-another-75-billion-worth-of-us-goods.html. (go back ↩)
- ^Breuninger, Kevin. “Trump says he’s ordering American companies to immediately start looking for an alternative to China.” CNBC, 23 Aug. 2019, www.cnbc.com/2019/08/23/trump-says-hes-ordering-american-companies-to-immediately-start-looking-for-an-alternative-to-china.html. (go back ↩)
