Trump says tariffs on Chinese imports will remain in place for a
President Trump roiled global markets on Wednesday when he said that tariffs on Chinese imports will be left in place for a “substantial period” after a trade deal is reached with Beijing.
“We’re not talking about removing [tariffs], we’re talking about leaving them for a substantial period of time, because we have to make sure that if we do the deal with China that China lives by the deal,” Trump told reporters at the White House as he departed for Ohio.
The Dow Jones industrial index closed down .55%, and at one point after Trump spoke, it was down nearly 1%.
Trump’s comments come as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer are preparing to return to Beijing for another round of trade talks.
There have been reports from a variety of sources that the talks had stalled over Chinese demands that the tariffs be removed when the trade deal is signed.
Trump imposed 10% tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports last year, and had threatened to raise that amount to 25% if a deal was not reached by March 1. But he delayed implementation of the new tariffs as progress was being made.
In retaliation, the Chinese also imposed tariffs on $100 billion of imports from the US.
The Trump view is that the tariffs should not be removed until it becomes clear that China is living up to its obligations under any trade agreement, which is likely to call for increased imports of US agricultural products and oil, as well as assurances that China will respect US intellectual property rights and stop coercing US companies into joint ventures with Chinese partners.
