China on Friday ignored Washington’s apparent pause in a yearlong trade dispute by threatening to impose tariffs on $75 billion (€67.4 billion) of USA goods.

The White House and US Trade Representative’s office did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment on China’s latest tariffs. The White House offered no further details or explanation of Trump’s intentions.

“The vast amounts of money made and stolen by China from the United States, year after year, for decades, will and must STOP”, he added.

Despite the rising tensions on trade, Trump had sought to maintain good personal relations with Xi, calling him “my friend” in a tweet earlier this month and praising his leadership. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down about 1.7% shortly after midday, according to Barron’s, while the S&P 500 dropped 1.8%, and the Nasdaq Composite was down 2.2%. The U.S. Chamber has been on the front lines of efforts to resolve these challenges through negotiation and encouraging tough action by the U.S. government. Tariffs of 10% and 5% will take effect on two batches of goods on September 1 and December 15, the ministry said in a statement.

China will also go ahead with previously postponed import duties on US -made autos and auto parts, the Finance Ministry announced. China previously halted those auto tariffs back in April as part of a trade war truce. And it remained unclear hours after his tweets exactly what he had in mind.

Trump on Friday morning argued in a tweet that the economy was “strong and good, whereas the rest of the world is not doing so well”. He noted that retailers’ presence in China allows them to reach Chinese customers and also develop overseas markets.

Jay Foreman, CEO of Basic Fun!, a Boca Raton, Florida, toy company that imports from China said Trump’s statements were outrageous.

“Markets and businesses need security”, Whitman said. The tariffs range from 5% to 25%.

Trump can not legally compel U.S. companies to abandon China immediately, and he gave no details on how he might proceed with any such order.

China is putting into place tariffs on $75 billion in US products in retaliation for the Trump administration’s latest planned tariff hikes.

Gao repeated a Chinese threat of unspecified “corresponding countermeasures” if Trump’s tariff hike goes ahead.

Michael Pillsbury, a China expert at the conservative Hudson Institute who informally advises Trump, said he has detected an “increasing arrogance” among the Chinese delegations in recent months. In 2018, Brazil sent record volumes of soybeans to China as China significantly reduced its soybean exports from the U.S.

Producers of both products face an extra 5% tariff starting in September, while the auto tariffs will resume this December. The last round of talks in Shanghai in July ended with no indication of progress. Carmakers such as Daimler and Tesla had adjusted their prices in China when the auto and auto parts tariffs had been suspended. We can have a huge influence on how other countries act and react with us. BMW and Mercedes, meanwhile, ship many SUVs to China from American plants. “For the next top three, Chile, Malaysia and Argentina, the trade diversion is mostly additional China imports”.

This mirrors the timetable the U.S. has laid out for 10% tariffs on almost US$300 billion of Chinese shipments. Beijing retaliated by imposing its own penalties on $110 billion of American goods.

Source: http://hilltopmonitor.com/2019/08/china-to-impose-retaliatory-tariffs-on-u-s-goods/