US President Donald Trump threatened retaliatory action against two major Asian trading partners Tuesday, warning of sanctions against China while vowing to revise or scrap a free trade deal with South Korea.
WASHINGTON, United States — US President Donald Trump threatened retaliatory action against two major Asian trading partners Tuesday, warning of sanctions against China while vowing to revise or scrap a free trade deal with South Korea.
Accusing Beijing of decimating American steel and aluminum industries, Trump said he was “considering all options,” including tariffs and quotas.
Trump recently received two Commerce Department reports concerning alleged Chinese subsidies for steel and aluminum exports — materials that are vital for industries from construction to autos.
He has another two months to decide on possible retaliatory action, but strongly indicated that he is leaning toward hitting back at Beijing.
“I will make a decision that reflects the best interests of the United States, including the need to address overproduction in China and other countries,’ he said.
Experts believe any US sanctions would prompt China to respond with sanctions of its own, raising the specter of a trade war between the world’s two largest economies.
China produces around half of the world’s steel and is accused of flooding the market in order to keep the economic wheels turning at home.
For decades Chinese leaders have been consumed with the need to — as former president Hu Jintao once put it — create “25 million jobs a year.
