President Donald Trump's administration will impose a 10 percent tariff on about $200 billion in Chinese goods next week and will more than double the rate in 2019, making the next move in a trade war between the world's two biggest economies.
By delaying until next year the increase to 25 percent, the administration is giving U.S. businesses a chance to adjust and look for alternative supply chains, two senior administration officials, who declined to be identified, told reporters in a conference call Monday. The 10 percent tariff will take effect next Monday, the officials said.
"For months, we have urged China to change these unfair practices, and give fair and reciprocal treatment to American companies," Trump said in a statement released Monday evening. "We have been very clear about the type of changes that need to be made, and we have given China every opportunity to treat us more fairly. But, so far, China has been unwilling to change its practices."
Smart watches and Bluetooth devices were removed from the tariff list, along with bicycle helmets, high chairs, children's car seats, playpens and certain industrial chemicals. They were among 300 tariff lines scrubbed from the preliminary target list released in July, according to one of the officials. No items were added, though the value will remain at $200 billion worth of Chinese imports, the officials said.
Trump continues to ratchet up pressure on China to change its trade practices even as he floats the idea of talks. Business leaders are warning that the high-stakes strategy could upend their supply chains and raise costs, and economists worry Trump's tactics could derail the broadest global upswing in years.
"It appears that the administration responded to some industry concerns, but for many American businesses and consumers, this still represents a rapid acceleration of costs and much higher uncertainty," said Rufus Yerxa, president of the National Foreign Trade Council. "Business hates uncertainty. They'd rather have an imperfect trading relationship than this much chaos."
China has already said it will retaliate against the $200 billion round of tariffs by imposing duties on $60 billion of U.S. goods, including products such as liquefied natural gas and aircraft.
Trump's decision throws into doubt efforts to reach a diplomatic breakthrough in the dispute. China will reject new trade talks if Trump moves ahead with the new round of tariffs on Chinese products, two people familiar with the matter said Monday.
The administration earlier this month floated the idea of talks led by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He expected to lead the Beijing delegation.
The U.S. remains open to negotiations, but China must show it's seriously willing to make systemic economic changes, the senior administration officials said Monday.
With the latest tariff escalation, American consumers could start feeling the cost in everyday goods. It brings the total of Chinese imports subject to added tariffs to $250 billion, roughly half the value of China's shipments to the U.S. last year. The Trump administration in July and August already imposed 25 percent tariffs on $50 billion of Chinese goods, sparking in-kind retaliation.
Trump said earlier this month that he's prepared to impose tariffs on a further $267 billion of imports from China, which would push the cumulative total beyond the amount of goods the U.S. bought from the Asian nation last year.
Hours before his announcement Monday, Trump told reporters his impression is that Beijing wants to talk about a deal, and that he thinks "it's going to work out very well with China."
Officials from both countries have met four times for formal talks, most recently in August, when the Treasury Department's undersecretary for international affairs, David Malpass, led discussions in Washington with Chinese Vice Minister Wang Shouwen.
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow has indicated that Trump could be willing to meet face-to-face with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the U.N. General Assembly later this month or at the Group of 20 leaders' summit in Argentina from Nov. 30-Dec. 1.
The White House has sought to pressure Beijing to reduce its trade surplus with the U.S. and protect intellectual property rights of U.S. companies, which the administration says are abused in China.
Information for this article was contributed by Jennifer Jacobs, Toluse Olorunnipa and Saleha Mohsin of Bloomberg News.
A Section on 09/18/2018