Donald Trump is trying to beatdown the Chinese ,in public , before the world, as that country seeks to replace America as the premier world economy…
The question is?
Will American consumers, farmers and manufactures end up paying the bill of billions for his efforts?
President Trump escalated his trade war with China on Friday morning, raising tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods and taking steps to tax nearly all of China’s imports as punishment for what he said was Beijing’s attempt to “renegotiate” a trade deal.
Mr. Trump’s decision to proceed with the tariff increase came after a pivotal round of trade talks in Washington on Thursday night failed to produce an agreement to forestall the higher levies. The White House said talks would resume again on Friday but it remains uncertain whether the two sides can bridge the differences that have arisen over the past week.
In his comments at the White House on Thursday afternoon, Mr. Trump vacillated between threatening China and suggesting a deal could still happen. The president said he had received a “beautiful letter” from President Xi Jinping of China and would probably speak to him by phone, but said he was more than happy to keep hitting Beijing with tariffs….
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In a statement on Friday, China’s Ministry of Commerce said that the government “deeply regrets that it will have to take necessary countermeasures.” It didn’t specify what those countermeasures might be.
“It is hoped that the U.S. and Chinese sides will meet each other halfway and work together” to resolve their dispute, the statement added.
Markets in Asia and Europe rose in Friday trading, suggesting investors still believe the two sides can reach a deal.
The renewed brinkmanship has plunged the world’s two largest economies back into a trade war that had seemed on the cusp of ending. The United States and China were nearing a trade deal that would lift tariffs, open the Chinese market to American companies and strengthen China’s intellectual property protections. But discussions fell apart last weekend, when China called for substantial changes to the negotiating text that both countries had been using as a blueprint for a sweeping trade pact.
Mr. Trump, angered by what he viewed as an act of defiance, responded on Sunday by threatening to raise existing tariffs to 25 percent and impose new ones on an additional $325 billion worth of products. China has said it is prepared to retaliate should those tariffs go into effect….
Note….
Import taxes on Chinese goods which had increased to America would have to be absorbed by sellers in this country OR passed along in higher prices to consumers…
The move to a 25% tax will probably mean higher prices for Americans….
There is also the move of some retailers away from Chinese products which where cheaper to higher priced products from other countries to fill in the voids from reduced importing of Chinese goods…The increased import taxes won’t be felt for few months until products after today arrive in the America…Less trade with America will also impact China’s economy….