President Donald Trump ordered his chief trade negotiator to consider imposing tariffs on an additional $100 billion of Chinese products Thursday, in a dramatic escalation of his trade war with China.

The president said he was acting in response to China’s announcement of plans to introduce new import taxes on $50 billion worth of American goods. Beijing’s action in turn followed Trump’s April 3 move to target a similar amount of Chinese imports in a rebuke of China’s trade practices.

“Rather than remedy its misconduct, China has chosen to harm our farmers and manufacturers. In light of China’s unfair retaliation, I have instructed the USTR to consider whether $100 billion of additional tariffs would be appropriate under section 301 and, if so, to identify the products upon which to impose such tariffs. I have also instructed the Secretary of Agriculture, with the support of other members of my Cabinet, to use his broad authority to implement a plan to protect our farmers and agricultural interests,” the president said.

His surprise statement, issued well after 6 p.m., left the door open to talks between the two sides.

“The United States is still prepared to have discussions in further support of our commitment to achieving free, fair, and reciprocal trade and to protect the technology and intellectual property of American companies and American people,” the statement said. “Trade barriers must be taken down to enhance economic growth in America and around the world. I am committed to enabling American companies and workers to compete on a level playing field around the world, and I will never allow unfair trade practices to undermine American interests.”</s>President Trump appeared to up the ante in his trade disputes with China today by signaling his willingness to impose more tariffs than previously announced.

As NPR's Scott Horsley reports, Trump is ratcheting up the tit-for-tat with China over trade by asking his trade representative to consider tariffs on another $100 billion worth of Chinese imports.



"Neither Trump nor Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer immediately ordered tariffs. But the bellicose rhetoric from the White House represents an escalation in the tense trade standoff. Earlier, Trump had suggested to an audience in West Virginia that an all-out trade war might be avoided. Trump said, 'In many respects, I think we're going to have a fantastic long-term relationship with China. But we have to get this straightened out. We have to have some balance.' Chinese tariffs on pork and nuts and a threat of tariffs on soybeans have already depressed farm prices in the US. Trump ordered his Agriculture Secretary to come up with a plan to protect U.S. farmers, though he did not say what that might involve."



As the Associated Press reports,



The latest escalation comes after the U.S. on Tuesday said it would impose 25 percent duties on $50 billion of imports from China, and China quickly retaliated by listing $50 billion of products that it could hit with its own 25 percent tariffs. The Chinese list Wednesday included soybeans, the biggest U.S. export to China, and aircraft up to 45 tons (41 metric tons) in weight. Also on the list were American beef, whiskey, passenger vehicles and industrial chemicals. Earlier in the week, Beijing announced separate import duties on $3 billion of U.S. goods in response to the Trump administration's duties on all steel and aluminum imports, including from China.



Trump made his announcement after U.S. markets had closed.

That announcement drew a quick rebuke from Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., who tweeted that the president is "threatening to light American agriculture on fire."

"Hopefully the President is just blowing off steam again but, if he's even half-serious, this is nuts," Sasse wrote.

The U.S. has a $375 billion dollar trade deficit with China.</s>The President of the United States announced Thursday that he is considering to impose a new set of tariffs worth $100 billion on Chinese products after the Asian giant decided to apply extra duties on US products in response to the $50 billion of taxes Washington levied on Chinese imports.

US President Donald Trump ordered the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) to "identify the products to impose such tariffs," of about $100 billion, "in the light of China's unfair retaliation".</s>The Trump administration on Tuesday announced the details of tariffs on some $50 billion of goods imported from China. The tariffs are aimed at unfair trade practices related to the forced transfer of technology and intellectual property.

The list released Tuesday by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative includes 1,300 categories of products, including certain medical products, televisions, dishwashers, and automobile parts and chemicals. These would be subject to a 25 percent levy.

The tariffs do not immediately go into effect. Instead, they will go through a public comment period, including a public hearing on May 15. U.S. companies have until May 22 to raise objections. The U.S. could also drop the tariffs if it reaches a trade deal with China before they take effect.

Notably, the tariffs do not include mobile phones, which may minimize the impact on Apple and other mobile phone makers. As well, furniture and shoes–two other big categories of Chinese imports–are not included.

Last year, the U.S. ran a $375 billion trade deficit in goods with China. President Donald Trump has said he wants China to cooperate with his administration to reduce that by $100 billion. This could be accomplished by reducing Chinese exports to the U.S., by raising the number of U.S. goods China imports, or a combination of both.

The latest round of tariffs come after an investigation by the U.S. government found that China was forcing U.S. companies to transfer technology to China, which the U.S. government says is part of China’s scheme to become dominant in technology manufacturing. The USTR said Tuesday that the tariffs are “commensurate with an economic analysis of the harm caused by China’s unreasonable technology transfer policies to the U.S. economy.”

The Trump administration’s China trade policies are a marked departure from the past. Each of the Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations sought to further integrate China into the global trading system, largely ignoring statements from China that it sought dominance in many economic areas and downplaying the serious economic pain suffered by many Americans as trade with China expanded.

The Trump administration has recognized that China and the U.S. are effectively in an economic cold war, particularly when it comes to high-tech manufacturing. The Trump administration’s policies are aimed at preventing China from further endangering America’s technology dominance.</s>Trump asks U.S. trade representative to consider $100 billion in additional tariffs against China as dispute escalates.</s>The Trump administration has escalated its aggressive actions on trade by proposing 25% tariffs on 50 billion dollars-worth (£27 billion) of Chinese imports to protest Beijing's alleged theft of American technology.

The Office of the US Trade Representative issued a list targeting 1,300 Chinese products, including industrial robots and telecommunications equipment. The suggested tariffs would not take effect right way: A public comment period will last until May 11, and a hearing on the tariffs is set for May 15.

Companies and consumers will have the opportunity to lobby to have some products taken off the list or have others added.

The latest US move risks heightening trade tensions with China, which on Monday had slapped taxes on three billion dollars-worth of US products in response to earlier US tariffs on steel and aluminium imports.

"China's going to be compelled to lash back," warned Philip Levy, a senior fellow at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and an economic adviser to President George W Bush.

Indeed, China immediately threatened to retaliate against the new US tariffs, which target the high-tech industries that Beijing has been nurturing, from advanced manufacturing and aerospace to information technology and robotics.

Early Wednesday in Beijing, China's Commerce Ministry said it "strongly condemns and firmly opposes" the proposed US tariffs and warned of retaliatory action.

"We will prepare equal measures for US products with the same scale" according to regulations in Chinese trade law, a ministry spokesman said in comments carried by the official Xinhua News Agency.

The US sanctions are intended to punish China for using strong-arm tactics in its drive to become a global technology power. These include pressuring American companies to share technology to gain access to the Chinese market, forcing US firms to license their technology in China on unfavourable terms and even hacking into US companies' computers to steal trade secrets.</s>Central Texas farmers are concerned proposed tariffs for American and Chinese exports could hurt their business in a big way.

On Tuesday, the U.S. proposed to impose tariffs on 1,300 Chinese goods after an investigation by the United States Trade Representative revealed China's intellectual property theft costs the U.S. billions of dollars every year.

A day after, China fired back stating it planned to put tariffs on 106 U.S. products, including soybeans.

Fleming Grain and Cattle Owner Robert Fleming said soybeans impact the prices of his corn and wheat crops.

"One night ago, corn fell 10 cents, so a person like me who has 100,000 bushels of corn in storage, I lost $10,000 overnight so that creates issues and fear in the market," Fleming said.

Fleming who owns farms in Bell, Freestone, Falls and Limestone County is acting quickly before the prices drop.

“I can’t say I’m putting anything on hold. I’m getting more aggressive on commodity sales. Me, personally I think we have a downtrend in commodities coming," Fleming said.

Fleming worries the situation could turn into a trade war between the two countries.

“Agriculture always takes the brunt of a trade war," Fleming said.

The Texas Farm Bureau also opposes to the new tariffs due to concerns of a trade war.

"A trade war doesn't help anybody. It's very negative. Right now, I'll tell you that commodity prices are down by 50 percent of what they were four years ago... so having a disruption in trade is very concerning for us," Director of Government Affairs Regan Beck said.

Beck said the TFB agrees if other countries are doing unfair practices, the issue should be corrected. However, he worries about the future of agriculture.

"It’s just a very difficult time for them to go on and stay afloat, stay in business," Beck said.

If the tariffs do go through, Beck said he is hopeful, there will be support for agriculture.

“We have heard from the administration that they are not forgetting about agriculture and they are trying to find some way of safety net to try to help, in case we do have some losses through trade. And we are talking to the administration to make sure that does happen," Beck said.

President Donald Trump's economic advisor said the proposal of new tariffs is part of the administration negotiation strategy.

Fleming said he wishes the new tariffs remain a proposal.

“Hopefully, this is an emotional deal and it will correct itself in a few months," Fleming said.

The administration will hold a public hearing for U.S. businesses on May 15.</s>WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has instructed the U.S. trade representative to consider slapping $100 billion in additional tariffs on Chinese goods.

The move comes a day after China issued a $50 billion list of U.S. goods including soybeans and small aircraft for possible tariff hikes in an escalating and potentially damaging dispute.

The White House says Trump has instructed the Office of the United States Trade Representative to consider whether $100 billion of additional tariffs would be appropriate under section 301 and, if so, to identify which products they should apply to.

He’s also instructed his secretary of agriculture “to implement a plan to protect our farmers and agricultural interests.”

Trump argues China’s trade practices have led to the closure of American factories and the loss of millions of American jobs.</s>President Donald Trump said Thursday he is ordering the U.S. Trade Representative to consider $100 billion in additional tariffs on Chinese goods, ratcheting up tensions with Beijing after his administration signaled it would be willing negotiate.

U.S. stock futures dropped on Trump’s latest trade directive. S&P 500 Index futures slid as much as 1.2 percent, after the underlying gauge ended up 0.7 percent on Thursday.

“In light of China’s unfair retaliation, I have instructed the USTR to consider whether $100 billion of additional tariffs would be appropriate under section 301 and, if so, to identify the products upon which to impose such tariffs,” Trump said in a statement issued by the White House.

The move threatens to unravel efforts by top U.S. and Chinese trade officials to lower the heat and reach an agreement that could stave off a full-blown trade war that could harm the world’s two largest economies.

China said Wednesday it would levy a 25 percent tariff on about $50 billion of U.S. imports including soybeans, automobiles, chemicals and aircraft. That was in response to the release by the U.S. of a list of proposed tariffs a day earlier, covering $50 billion in Chinese goods.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer quickly followed up Trump’s Thursday evening declaration with a statement of his own stressing that none of the tariffs would take immediate effect. He said that any additional tariffs first would be subject to a 60-day public comment period, as would the penalties announced earlier in the week.

“No tariffs will go into effect until the respective process is complete,” Litghhizer said.

Trump chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow and other administration officials have spent the past two days trying to tamp down fears of a trade war.

“I think we’re going to come to agreements,” Kudlow said Wednesday on Fox News. “I believe that the Chinese will back down and will play ball.”

Yet Trump signaled a harder line in a speech earlier Thursday, saying it is time to stop China from “taking advantage” of America.

“You have to go after the people who aren’t treating you right,” Trump said in West Virginia. “We’re going to have a fantastic relationship long term with China but we have to get this straightened out, we have to have some balance.”

Kudlow, his newly installed economic adviser, has spent days trying to calm investors who are concerned the spat will spark a trade war, saying on Thursday the administration was involved in “delicate negotiations” that might forestall the need for tariffs. He said the U.S. could still hammer out a deal with Beijing, in part by convincing other major economies to call out the Asian nation for unfair trading practices.

David Loevinger, a former senior Treasury official who is now managing director of emerging markets at TCW Group Inc., said the move casts doubt on the direction of U.S. policy

“It’s just not clear what the connection is right now between what the president says and what will actually become policy,” Loevinger said. “Markets increasingly have to discount White House statements on trade issues.”</s>US unveils tariffs on US$50b worth of Chinese imports (VIDEO)

US President Donald Trump addresses the annual March for Life rally at the National Mall near the White House, Washington January 19, 2018. — Reuters picWASHINGTON, April 4 — The Trump administration yesterday raised the stakes in a growing trade showdown with China, announcing 25 per cent tariffs on some 1,300 industrial technology, transport and medical products to try to force changes in Beijing's intellectual property practices.

The US Trade Representative's office unveiled a list of mainly non-consumer products representing about US$50 billion (RM193 billion) of annual imports that would nonetheless hit supply chains for many US manufacturers. The list ranges from chemicals to light-emitting diodes, motorcycles and dental devices.

Publication of the tariff lists starts a public comment and consultation period expected to last around two months, after which USTR said it would issue a “final determination” on the product list. It has scheduled a May 15 public hearing on the tariffs.

USTR said the tariffs were proposed “in response to China’s policies that coerce American companies into transferring their technology and intellectual property to domestic Chinese enterprises.”

The agency added that such policies “bolster China’s stated intention of seizing economic leadership in advanced technology as set forth in its industrial plans, such as “Made in China 2025.”

China has denied that its laws require technology transfers and has threatened to retaliate against any US tariffs with trade sanctions of its own, with potential targets such as US soybeans, aircraft or heavy equipment. The dispute has raised fears about a possible trade war between the world's two largest economies.

The US list heavily targets advanced technology products that benefit from Beijing's “Made in China 2025” programmer, which aims to replace advanced technology imports with domestic products and build a dominant position in future industries.

The state-led 2025 programme targets 10 strategic industries: advanced information technology, robotics, aircraft, new energy vehicles, pharmaceuticals, electric power equipment, advanced materials, agricultural machinery, shipbuilding and marine engineering and advanced rail equipment. — Reuters
Trump instructs officials to consider a further $100 billion of tariffs against China in addition to the $50 billion worth of US tariffs already proposed on hundreds of Chinese imports.