President Trump’s top trade negotiator said Monday that the White House will raise tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods after a setback in trade talks between the U.S. and Beijing.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said Monday that Trump will raise tariffs from 10 percent to 25 percent on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports, according to media reports.
{mosads}The president announced Sunday on Twitter that he had planned to go through with the tariff hike, which had been indefinitely delayed as the U.S. and China sought to finalize a deal to reduce trade barriers.
“The United States has been losing, for many years, 600 to 800 Billion Dollars a year on Trade. With China we lose 500 Billion Dollars,” Trump tweeted Monday, renewing his pledge. “Sorry, we’re not going to be doing that anymore!”
Trump and his top aides have said for months that the U.S. was close to finishing a deal with Beijing to reduce trade barriers and ramp up purchases of American crops by the Chinese government.
Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, Beijing’s lead on trade negotiations, was scheduled to visit Washington, D.C., this week after Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin met with officials in China last week.
But several outlets reported Monday that talks between the Trump administration and China hit a roadblock after Beijing refused to agree to measures to halt intellectual property transfers that would require a change to Chinese law.
“We felt we were on track to get somewhere. Over the course of last week we have seen an erosion of commitments by China,” Lighthizer said Monday, according to Bloomberg News. He added there were still significant issues to be hammered out in talks.
Trump’s decision to boost tariffs on Chinese goods spurred fears that the U.S and China could fail to reach a deal, sending Wall Street into a frenzy Monday morning.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged more than 400 points, or 1.6 percent, while the S&P 500 dropped nearly 45 points, or 1.5 percent, and the Nasdaq composite fell 145 points, or 1.8 percent. But the major indexes made a massive comeback, recovering almost all of their losses from earlier in the day.
Trump on Sunday also threatened to impose new import taxes on more than $300 billion in Chinese goods, which would likely subject all imports from China to tariffs.
“For 10 months, China has been paying Tariffs to the USA of 25% on 50 Billion Dollars of High Tech, and 10% on 200 Billion Dollars of other goods,” Trump tweeted Sunday afternoon. “These payments are partially responsible for our great economic results.
While Trump frequently says that China is paying tariffs applied to its imports, U.S. importers and consumers purchasing goods from China are actually paying the cost of tariffs.
Since tariffs are applied by the federal government on foreign goods purchased within the states, the costs often get passed down to U.S consumers through higher prices charged by retailers or other importers.