Donald Trump threatens ‘very substantial’ trade tariffs on China

Washington: US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the US would impose “very substantial” tariffs on China if the two countries were unable to reach a trade deal during his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan.

“I would do additional tariffs ... very substantial additional tariffs if that doesn’t work, if we don’t make a deal,” the US President during an interview, the Efe news reported. Trump said: “Companies are moving out of China, by the way, some are coming back to the United States because they don’t want to pay the tariff.”

Trump said the US was benefiting from the tariffs imposed on Chinese goods.

“When tariffs go on in China we are taking in billions and billions of dollars – we never took in 10 cents – now you have another $325 billion that I haven’t taxed yet - it’s ripe for taxing - for putting tariffs on,” Trump said. The US President, however, said he was optimistic about reaching a trade deal with Beijing, adding that China needed an agreement more than the US.

Trump said the Chinese government knows “what we have to have” to cut a trade deal. “We don’t have intellectual property rights protections, we don’t have the opening of China,” Trump said. “You know, China’s not open. We’re open, but China’s not open. So, if we don’t have the openings of China, if we don’t have the things that we negotiated, and maybe even more than that.”

Trump said that while he hoped to reach a deal with Xi, his “plan B” could include a 10 per cent tariff on “$600 billion” worth of goods from China. (IANS)

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