Washington - US President Donald Trump has announced that he
will hike tariffs on some 300 billion dollars' worth of Chinese goods
to 10 per cent starting on September 1.
The measures will come on top of the 25-per-cent tariffs that have
been imposed on 250 billion dollars' worth of Chinese products coming
into the US.
The announcement comes on the heels of talks between the world's two
largest economies in Shanghai this week. The negotiations did not
appear to yield any significant progress, though Trump said "positive
dialogue" between the sides will continue.
Our representatives have just returned from China where they had constructive talks having to do with a future Trade Deal. We thought we had a deal with China three months ago, but sadly, China decided to re-negotiate the deal prior to signing. More recently, China agreed to...
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 1, 2019
...buy agricultural product from the U.S. in large quantities, but did not do so. Additionally, my friend President Xi said that he would stop the sale of Fentanyl to the United States – this never happened, and many Americans continue to die! Trade talks are continuing, and...
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 1, 2019
"We look forward to continuing our positive dialogue with China on a
comprehensive Trade Deal, and feel that the future between our two
countries will be a very bright one!" the president wrote on Twitter.
In announcing the new tariffs, Trump said China had pledged to
increase purchases of US agricultural products, but did not, and also
alleged Beijing reneged on a promise to stop the sale of Fentanyl to
the US.