Trump: ‘Ready to go’ with tariffs on all Chinese imports

President Trump in an interview that aired Friday said he’s “ready to go” with $500 billion in tariffs on China after already slapping the country with a series of tariffs.

Trump said in an interview with CNBC that the U.S. is “down a tremendous amount” in terms of trade with China, saying that China “can’t match us because otherwise we’re always going to be behind the eight ball.”

“I’m not doing this for politics. I’m doing this to do the right thing for our country. We have been ripped off by China for a long time, and I told that to President Xi [Jinping],” Trump said.

{mosads}

Bloomberg reported that about $500 billion worth of Chinese goods were imported into the U.S. last year.

Trump has repeatedly claimed that the U.S. has been taken advantage of by China on trade.

The Trump administration imposed tariffs on $34 billion worth of Chinese products last month, which China quickly matched with tariffs on the same value of American goods.

The administration then announced that it would impose another series of tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports.

China has promised to retaliate for the latest round of tariffs and has filed a challenge with the World Trade Organization.