President Trump on Thursday will announce his plans to crack down on China with what could possibly be billions in tariffs and restrictions on investment, a move that could set off a trade war.
President Trump on Thursday will announce plans to crack down on China with what could possibly be billions in tariffs and restrictions on investment, a move some fear could set off a trade war.
Although specific details of the Trump administration’s plan are still unknown, there have been media reports that the president may decide to apply tariffs between $30 billion and $50 billion on Chinese imports in response to Beijing’s wide-ranging, lax policies on intellectual property.
“Tomorrow the president will announce the actions he has decided to take based on USTR’s [United States trade representative] 301 investigation into China’s state-led, market-distorting efforts to force, pressure, and steal U. S. technologies and intellectual property,” White House deputy press secretary Raj Shah said on Wednesday.
The president may target more than 100 products from China that the administration has found to be the the result of stealing U. S. intellectual property, according to reports.
Trump has pledged tough action on China since his presidential campaign.
Beijing has threatened retaliation, mostly against U. S. agriculture, if Trump follows through on his promise.
U. S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, who Trump asked last year to start investigating China’s intellectual property violations, told the House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday that “we have a very serious problem of losing our intellectual property, which is really the biggest single advantage of the American economy.
