In July, the US first hit China with “section 301” tariffs on $50 billion worth of its products, after months of failed negotiations to persuade China to stop appropriating US intellectual property. China was quick to retaliate, putting a 25 percent import tax on soybeans, corn, wheat, sorghum, pork, beef, fruits, vegetables and tree nuts.
The new US tariffs will go into effect on September 24. They will first be set at 10 percent and then rise to 25 percent after December 31 if the two countries have not settled their differences by then. China, meanwhile, has already warned that it will retaliate.
“China has had many, many opportunities to change those practices […] but up to this point they have remained obstinate,” said a senior administration official.
On August 3, China threatened to hit US goods with $60 billion in new or higher tariffs –a bump in the rate on some existing tariffs and some new import taxes- if president Trump followed through with a threat to increase US tariffs on an additional $200 billion worth of Chinese goods. Trump made good on that threat on Monday and he has warned there could be more tariffs to follow.
As to US and Chinese efforts to work out a deal to end the trade war, senior administration officials were not optimistic. So far, China has not been willing to “seriously engage” with US negotiators, one official said.
Trump was more optimistic, though: “China is now paying us billions of dollars, and we will see how that all works out. I think it's going to work out very well with China. I think they want to make a deal. They do want to make a deal - that I can tell you. They want to make a deal.”
But some are taking issue with Trump’s claim that China will be pressured into a deal because it’s having to pay billions of dollars to the US in tariffs. In reality, it’s US importers who are paying those tariffs.
“These tariffs are going to be paid for by the working families who drive our economy,” says Jonathan Gold, a spokesman for the group Tariffs Hurt the Heartland. “Tariffs are taxes, plain and simple. By choosing to unilaterally raise taxes on Americans, the cost of running a farm, factory or business will grow. In many cases, these costs will be passed on to American families,” he told agri-pulse.com.
