Burton Mills - US Could Hit China With More Tariffs

Burton Mills - If trade talks between Trump and Xi break down, US could slap further trade tariffs on remaining Chinese products.

In the event that trade talks between US President Donald Trump and Chinese Premier, Xi Jinping fail to reach a resolution, the US is preparing to impose tariffs on the remainder of Chinese goods say analysts at Burton Mills.

An announcement of the fresh round of import tariffs to be imposed on imports from China could come as soon as December. The tariffs would affect all products from China that are not yet subject to Trump’s import taxes. Burton Mills analysts say this would amount to products to the value of approximately $257 billion.

The U.S stock markets plunged following the report of the new round of tariffs, with the Dow Jones falling by more than 200 points and the S&P 500 losing 0.6 percent.

Analysts at Burton Mills say the new round of tariffs would be the last step in Trump’s strategy to compel China’s government to give in to US trade demands.

But for now, Trump’s administration has stated that they hope the trade talks between US and China go well and that differences can be reconciled before further escalation of the trade dispute is necessary.

In September this year, the US imposed tariffs of 10 percent on Chinese goods to the value of $200 billion. Burton Mills analysts say this rate will increase to 25 percent by the end of this year if trade talks do not reach a resolution. China has promised to impose retaliatory tariffs on US imports to the value of $60 billion.

Prior to the September tariffs, the world’s two largest economies had already imposed tariffs on each other’s products, to the value of $50 billion.

Source: Burton Mills