Published 13:58 IST, November 20th 2019
Trump warns China of higher tariffs in case of no trade deal
US President Donald Trump on November 19 warned China that without a trade deal it may face more tariffs as tensions between the countries have escalated.
US President Donald Trump on November 19 warned China that without a trade deal it may face more tariffs. He said that if the US doesn't make a deal with China, then he threatened to increase the tariffs even higher. Trump's latest remarks came as markets are watching signs of progress in the two economic superpowers. Tensions between both countries have escalated with the US and China pulling in billions of dollars in trade tariffs. Experts said that Trump's latest comments about increasing the taxes have put them in doubt.
China pushed US to cut tariffs
China has pushed the US to cut the tariffs imposed on its trade. Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman Gao Feng told the media on November 14 that tariff cut is an important condition for the agreement that is part of talks between the countries. American negotiators agreed to roll back penalties imposed in September on $112 billion of Chinese imports claimed Beijing in a statement last week. It was dismissed by Donald Trump a day later which created chaos in global markets. Yet Trump decided to postpone a planned tariff hike on $250 billion of Chinese goods after announcing the Phase 1 agreement on October 12. Financial officials from both countries have been negotiating the details of the agreement since then.
'China will continue to do what it's doing'
Trump administration has been asking China to curb massive subsidies to state-owned firms and end the forced transfer of American technology to Chinese firms as a price of doing business in China. The phase 1 deal fails to address the aforementioned issue of industrial subsidies and rather focuses on Chinese purchases of US farm goods and intellectual property protection related to copyright and trademark issues said trade analysts to media. Charles Boustany, a former congressman from Louisiana and counselor at the National Bureau of Asian Research, said that China will anyway continue to do what it's doing and the deal will just be the status quo. Moreover, inconsistencies in China’s new foreign investment law will fail to fulfill the benefits of increased access to China’s financial services market, they added.
Updated 15:52 IST, November 20th 2019