Trade

Trump: ‘Highly unlikely’ US would delay higher tariffs on China

by Niv Elis - 11/26/18 4:55 PM ET

President Trump said it is “highly unlikely” that the U.S. would delay a scheduled tariff increase on $200 billion of Chinese imports unless a new trade deal is in place.

“If we don’t make a deal, then I’m going to put the $267 billion additional on,” Trump said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal published Monday.

{mosads}In September, the Trump administration imposed 10 percent tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods, and threatened to raise the tariffs to 25 percent on Jan. 1 unless the U.S. and China reach a trade agreement. At the time, Trump threatened additional tariffs of $267 billion in the event that China retaliated with its own tariffs, which it did.

Analysts have pointed to the escalating trade war as cause for concern and a factor in the last week’s stock market sell-off that wiped out the entire year’s gains.

Trump also told the Journal that he would consider scrapping the tariff exemption for popular electronic products such as iPhones and laptops that are imported from China.

“I mean, I can make it 10 percent, and people could stand that very easily,” he said.

Trump is scheduled to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week at the Group of 20 summit in Argentina, where trade is expected to be among the top issues discussed by leaders from the world’s 20 biggest economies.

Chinese officials have said that putting off the planned tariff increase was a top goal in negotiations.

Tags Donald Trump