Todd Bishop
The China-US trade war escalated again in September, and the two countries imposed new tariffs on each other’s goods. The US media said that Trump had hoped to double the tax rate on Chinese goods, but was blocked by two of his officials.
The US Consumer News and Business Channel (CNBC) website reported on September 3 that three sources told CNBC that after Beijing’s revenge, US President Donald Trump originally wanted to last month (August). The tax rate on Chinese goods doubled, but in the end it agreed to only slightly increase.
The report said that China had a plan to levy a tax on US$75 billion in goods, and Trump was very angry after learning of the incident. According to three sources, Trump’s initial response was to recommend doubling the existing tariff.
The report pointed out that US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer then asked the CEOs of several companies to call Trump to warn him of the impact this may have on the stock market and the economy.
According to the report, Trump later agreed to increase the tax rate on China’s $550 billion in goods by another 5%, and announced the news on Twitter on August 23.
In the next few days, Mnuchin and White House communications director Stephanie Grisham said that Trump regretted not raising the tax rate higher.
It is reported that after the China-US representatives negotiated in Shanghai at the end of July, Trump was dissatisfied with the negotiation process. On August 1, he announced that he would gradually tax another 300 billion US dollars of Chinese goods on September 1. The tax rate is 10 %. Later, it was announced that the tariffs were carried out in two batches. The tariffs on the first batch of more than $125 billion were effective on September 1, and the remaining December 15 came into force.
China’s visit to the United States also announced on August 23 that it will levy taxes on US$75 billion worth of US goods, which will be carried out in two batches. One batch will take effect on September 1, and the other batch will take effect on December 15.
Trump, China’s counter-attack, was very dissatisfied. He announced on August 23 that he would increase the tax rate on China’s $550 billion in goods by 5%. The US will raise the existing tariff on US$250 billion on Chinese goods from 25% to 30% on October 1. He also said that the tariff of another US$300 billion Chinese commodity, which is scheduled to take effect on September 1, will be 10%. Rose to 15%.
In fact, there is a lot of opposition within the US government for Trump to levy taxes on China’s other $300 billion. According to the Wall Street Journal reported on August 1, according to informed sources, US Trade Representative Wright Heather, Finance Minister Mnuchin, White House economic adviser Lawrence Kudlow and national security adviser John Bolton opposed this A move to increase tariffs.
But the person familiar with the matter said that Trump insisted on pushing the move and was supported by White House consultant Peter Navarro.
It is reported that the new tariff will also bring a direct blow to consumers in the United States.
