Economic Collapse

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Trump orders $50B in tariffs on Chinese imports
March 22, 2018

The Trump administration on Thursday took the first steps to slap China with up to $50 billion in tariffs on imports and to restrict investments in the US by the world’s second largest economy.

The president will instruct US Trade Representative Bob Lighthizer to assemble a package of new Chinese tariffs and direct Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to do the same for a plan to restrict Chinese investments on US technology and properties, administration officials said.

“The president of the United States is standing up for American corporations. He has their back,” National Trade Council Director Peter Navarro told reporters during a briefing

A White House official puts the tariff target at about $50 billion, though which specific imports would be targeted remained unclear.

Navarro said Team Trump had tried for months to address trade disputes with China without success.

“The problem is that with the Chinese in this case talk is not cheap. It’s been very expensive for the American people and finally the president decided that we needed to move forward,” Navarro said.

“China benefits far mar from the US-China trade relationship than the US does.”

The current US trade deficit with China is roughly $375 billion.

“A very conservative estimate is that that trade deficit results in about two million more jobs in China and two million less here. This is a serious problem that the US side is keenly aware of,” he said.

“China will have a choice on how to respond and they have benefited far more from this relationship than we have.”

Chinese officials have vowed to retaliate against any US tariffs on imports — a move that could spark a trade war.

Wall Street was rattled by the move, with the Dow cratering by more than 450 points as of noon Thursday.

Everett Eissenstat, deputy assistant to the president for international economic affairs, said Trump would tell Lighthizer to prepare a list of products that could be subjected to tariffs.

“He’s going to direct the US trade representative publish a proposed list of products and any intended tariff increase within 15 days of the signing of the memorandum. After a period of notice and comment the final public tariff list will be identified,” he said.

“He will also direct [Mnuchin] within 60 days to propose executive branch action … to address concerns about unfair acquisition of investment in the United State that is directed and facilitated by China in industries or technologies which are deemed important to the United States.”

China has invested in or bought a variety of US companies or properties, including the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in the Big Apple and a number of tech companies and start-ups.

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