President Donald Trump stated on Sunday that tariffs of $200 billion of Chinese products would increase to 25% on Friday, despite repeated claims by the administration in recent weeks that trade talks with Beijing were going well.
“The Tariffs paid to the USA have had little impact on product cost, mostly borne by China. The Trade Deal with China continues, but too slowly, as they attempt to renegotiate. No!” Trump tweeted.
Additionally, President Trump threatened to impose 25 percent tariffs on an extra $325 billion of Chinese goods”shortly.”
After the president postponed that the previously planned March tariff increase indefinitely, many businesses settled into the outlook that talks between the U.S. and China were moving fine. Thoughts turned to whether the present 10 percent tariffs would stay or be dropped when an arrangement was reached. Today’s tweets turned those expectations on their heads.
The U.S. imports products from China are $539.5 billion, and the trade deficit stood at $419.2 billion in 2018, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. If Trump follows through with his threats, nearly all goods imported from China to the U.S. will face some tariff.
The White House said Wednesday the most recent round of talks had moved Beijing and Washington closer to an agreement. Press secretary Sarah Sanders stated, “Discussions remain focused toward making substantial progress on important structural issues and re-balancing the U.S.-China trade relationship.”
Main sticking points between the U.S. and China have been intellectual property theft and forced technology transfers. There’s also been discussion regarding whether tariffs should be removed or stay set up as an enforcement mechanism.