President Trump slaps additional tariffs on remaining $300 billion in Chinese imports

Washington: President Trump has announced imposing tariffs on the entire range of Chinese imports. The US President justified the decision by stating that since China and its President were not abiding by their commitments, he was imposing the fresh tariffs. Trump said that a 10% tariff on $300 of the remaining Chinese imports would come into effect from Sept 1. Previously, he had slapped 25% tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese imports.

A two-day summit has been organised in China to find a solution to the US-China trade war. The US delegation has returned home as the summit failed to resolve the issue. After receiving an update from the delegation on the summit, President Trump appears to have decided to adopt an assertive stance once again. On Friday, Trump openly expressed his displeasure against China on social media in a tweet.

‘The US delegation has just deliberated with China on a future trade deal. We had reached on a trade agreement only three months ago although China backed out before we could sign it and resumed the negotiations once again. At the same time, China had agreed to make large scale US imports of agricultural products but never took it to fruition,’ said Trump as he blamed China for its withdrawal from the commitment.

Trump also targeted Chinese President Xi Jinping during the accusations. He claimed that Xi was his friend and had assured he would halt the exports of fentanyl to the US. However, he was disappointed since his counterpart had failed to keep his word on stemming the sale of fentanyl, resulting in the death of many American citizens. While on the one hand, President Trump levelled accusations against China and its President, he also stated that he was imposing fresh tariffs against the nation even as trade talks would continue further, on the other.

Last year, Trump had imposed tariffs on Chinese imports worth $50 billion while initiating the trade war. After that, he intensified the trade war further by slapping 10% tariffs and then later 25% tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports. At the same time, China had countered the move with tariffs on $110 billion worth of US exports. Furthermore, the total Chinese imports to the US in the US-China trade are more than over $500 billion, and the recent announcement brings the entire range of Chinese imports under US tariffs.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo severely criticised China’s trade policies at a conference in Bangkok. Pompeo issued an open warning saying that the Asian countries need not co-operate with China unless they make amendments to their protectionist and exploitive trade policies.

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