WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said on Tuesday (May 29) he is moving to finalise trade sanctions against China even as a US delegation is set…
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said on Tuesday (May 29) he is moving to finalise trade sanctions against China even as a US delegation is set to travel to Beijing for talks to resolve the dispute.
The White House said the planned sanctions announced in March, largely focused on China’s theft of American intellectual property, were still in the works and details would be announced in the coming month.
It was yet another apparent change of course for Trump, who veers from harsh threats to promises of compromise and back again on trade and other more sensitive issues.
Despite announcing a truce in the trade hostilities less than 10 days ago, after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said threatened tariffs on Chinese goods were “on hold,” the White House signaled it was ready to pull the trigger on a broad array of penalties.
“From now on, we expect trading relationships to be fair and to be reciprocal,” in a statement, which spelled out a list of long-standing US trade grievances,” Trump said in a statement.
The Chinese Commerce Ministry said the move breached the recent consensus reached between Washington and Beijing.
“Whatever measures the United States takes, China has the confidence, capability and experience to defend the interests of Chinese people and the core interests of the country,” the ministry said in a statement published by official new agency Xinhua.
The US trade sanctions announced in March – including restrictions on Chinese investment, export controls and 25 per cent tariffs on as much as US$50 billion in Chinese tech goods – remain under development, the White House said.
The final list of Chinese imports covered by the tariffs list will be announced Jun 15, and imposed shortly thereafter, while the proposed investment restrictions and enhanced export controls will be announced by Jun 30, according to the statement.
