Trump also instructed his Agriculture secretary to help protect U.S. farmers and agricultural interests from Chinese retaliation.
President Donald Trump once again ratcheted up the tension in his ongoing trade dispute with China on Thursday, threatening to slap tariffs on an additional $100 billion in imports from one of the United States’ largest trading partners.
These tariffs would come on top of separate duties on $50 billion in U.S. imports of Chinese products like motor vehicles and home appliances that the administration announced earlier this week.
China had responded to that announcement by releasing its own list of products worth roughly the same amount that it will target with duties if the Trump administration moves forward with the president’s course of action. That list of more than 100 items was heavy on agricultural commodities, especially soybeans. Beijing also said it would add 25 percent tariffs on U.S. exports like aircraft, automobiles and chemicals.
Trump said in a statement Thursday evening that he found China’s retaliation “unfair,” and, for that reason, he instructed U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer “to consider whether $100 billion of additional tariffs would be appropriate … and, if so, to identify the products upon which to impose such tariffs.”
“Rather than remedy its misconduct, China has chosen to harm our farmers and manufacturers,” Trump said. “I am committed to enabling American companies and workers to compete on a level playing field around the world, and I will never allow unfair trade practices to undermine American interests.”
U.S. markets reacted negatively on the news with the Dow Jones Industrial Average showing an implied open down more than 400 points.
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Congressional leaders representing farm states have also been worried about the tit-for-tat promises of retaliation. On Thursday, Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska accused Trump of not have a realistic plan for reining in China’s trade problems.
Trump is “threatening to light American agriculture on fire. Let’s absolutely take on Chinese bad behavior, but with a plan that punishes them instead of us,” Sasse said. “This is the dumbest possible way to do this.”
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Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) on Trump's new tariff threat: "He's threatening to light American agriculture on fire." https://t.co/cpXWJhyes1 pic.twitter.com/9RiT19oTBd
— POLITICO (@politico) April 6, 2018
Hopefully the President is just blowing off steam, but setting Amer agriculture on fire is not a plan. My statement: pic.twitter.com/zSJhYZPDK2
— Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) April 6, 2018
Oh swell. After a couple of days of recovery, my retirement nest egg will be down again.
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