Trump Renews Chinese Tariff Threats Prior to G20 Summit

The President of the United States, Donald Trump, said he planned to proceed with an increase in tariffs currently imposed on Chinese products.

Comments to the Wall Street Journal come as he is expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of this week's G20 summit.

Tariffs would rise from 10% to 25% on goods worth $ 200 billion (£ 156 billion).

Mr Trump also said that he would hit the rest of China's imports with the United States with tariffs if negotiations were not going well.

The US president said it was "very unlikely" that he accepts Beijing's request to delay the planned tariff hike, the paper said.

If negotiations did not succeed, Trump said he would react to a previous threat of targeting more Chinese products with tariffs.

"If we do not agree, I will add another $ 267 billion," Trump said. This additional amount would be targeted at a rate of 10% or 25%, he told the Wall Street Journal.

He added that Apple iPhones and laptops imported from China could also be subject to tariffs.

"Clbadic trumpism"

Analysis of Karishma Vaswani, Business Correspondent in Asia

In a war, always let your opponent guess. This is the first trading rule. And the more you can publicly declare your position, the better.

That's exactly how you should read President Trump's comments to the Wall Street Journal about adopting new tariffs in China if Beijing does not play ball.

This is clbadic Trumpism. Use force to scare your opponent to do what you want. But the Chinese do not look like anyone with whom the president has been dealing before.

Mr. Trump's next meeting with President Xi at the G20 was supposed to help dispel tensions between the two sides. But with these comments, President Trump left very little room for China to leave the negotiating table with an agreement and save the face: something that Beijing will have to do to satisfy its national audience.

So it is very unlikely that we will get a successful agreement between the two countries at the G20 – and that means we will be the poorest for that.

& # 39; Deeply disappointing & # 39;

Mr. Trump has launched a trade war with China this year. The United States has received about half of all Chinese imports into the United States with tariffs.

China has retaliated but its room for maneuver is reduced, the United States buying much more from China than it exports to that country.

Analysts believe that the failure of the United States and China to find a common ground at the G20 could lead to a deterioration of the trade war, which is already hurting industries and putting risks on the market. Global economy.

"He is deeply disappointed that the president wants to undermine his opportunity to make significant progress even before the start of the talks," said Jose Castaneda, spokesman for the US Council of Information Technology, Industry and Industry. ;industry.

The US president said he wanted to continue this "short-sighted" trade war despite the "pain" felt by Americans because of tariffs, Castaneda said.

"To impose a new series of tariffs would cause a shock that will affect all of America and the world," he said.