US President Donald Trump stated that tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods will increase to 25%, from the current 10%. This move comes after repeated claims by the US government that trade talks with China are progressing smoothly.
The US had made a similar threat at the beginning of the year, but did not follow through as it agreed with China to carry out trade talks. What is more, Donald Trump threatened to raise tariffs to 25% tariffs by May 10.
This development comes after claims that the two countries were making progress in their trade talks. However, Trump believes that China is now trying to re-negotiate.
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Today, the US imports goods from China worth a total of $539.5 billion, with the trade deficit standing at $419.2 billion in 2018, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative informs. Should the US eventually imposes the tariffs, almost every good from China to the US would experience tariffs.
However, Vice President Mike Pence told CNBC that the US President is hopeful that he could reach an agreement with China.
In fact, according to the White House, the latest discussions between the two countries have made the agreement more possible. Namely, Press secretary Sarah Sanders noted that the talks are giving emphasis on achieving key progress on important structural issues and re-balancing the US-China trade relationship. Additionally, reports claim that a deal could have been reached by May 10.
As of now, the major obstacles towards a deal is intellectual property theft and forced technology transfers. Moreover, there has been disagreement as to whether tariffs should be removed or remain as they are as an enforcement mechanism.
