The new chapter in the Sino-American trade saga had come when President Donald Trump said that he would increase tariffs levied to Chinese goods in retaliation to China’s earlier move to impose tariffs on American products.
In a series of Tweets, President Donald Trump that he will increase the tariff on $250 billion Chinese imports from 25% to 30%. He said that this new tariff rate would be implemented starting October 1st. Similarly, Trump also said that the remaining $300 billion imports from China would see another 5% increase in tariff from 10% to 15%, effective starting September 1st, the president said on Twitter, Friday.
The intensifying trade brawl with China sent stocks plummeting on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -2.37% dropping more than 600 points. The S&P 500 index SPX, -2.59% dropped 75 points, and the Nasdaq COMP, -3.00% fell 239 points.
In an earlier Tweet from Trump’s official and personal account, the president encourages American companies to look for alternative manufacturers in the U.S. instead of having their products manufactured in China. However, as everyone knows, the U.S. president doesn’t have the power to dictate companies on where they should have their products manufactured.
The escalating tension between Beijing and Washington has once again erupted after the two superpowers have agreed to a truce during the G-20 meeting held in Tokyo, Japan back in June.
Earlier this month, Trump has started casting doubt on a trade deal that is earlier promised. While the U.S. President said that the ‘country’s relationship with China is going well, he also made a comment on how he may not be ready to make a deal with. Trump told reporters that things are doing “”very well with China,”” but that ‘he’s “”not ready to make a deal.””
Aside from not making a deal, he also opened up the possibility that a scheduled meeting on September may be canceled. The president also said it didn’t matter if the two sides kept a planned September meeting, saying “If we do, that’s fine. If we don’t, that’s fine.”
