Trump calls for tariffs on additional $200B in Chinese goods as trade war ramps up

President Trump on Monday said he is directing his top trade official to identify $200 billion more worth of Chinese goods that will be subject to tariffs, escalating the ongoing trade dispute between the U.S. and China. 

Trump said Monday that China’s decision to retaliate in kind against his first batch of $50 billion in tariffs — announced on Friday — required a U.S. response to encourage China to change its unfair practices.

“China apparently has no intention of changing its unfair practices related to the acquisition of American intellectual property and technology,” Trump said in a statement.

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The president asked U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to find $200 billion worth of Chinese goods that would be hit with a 10 percent import tax. 

“After the legal process is complete, these tariffs will go into effect if China refuses to change its practices, and also if it insists on going forward with the new tariffs that it has recently announced,” Trump said.

“If China increases its tariffs yet again, we will meet that action by pursuing additional tariffs on another $200 billion of goods,” he said. “The trade relationship between the United States and China must be much more equitable.” 

The president announced on Friday that the U.S. would impose 25 percent tariffs on $50 billion in Chinese goods. Beijing then responded with tariffs on $50 billion in U.S. products.

Trump had promised on Friday that if China retaliated he would hit back. 

The first round of U.S. tariffs worth $34 billion will go into effect on July 6, while a second batch valued at $16 billion will undergo further review, Lighthizer said last week.

Lighthizer said Monday night that he supports the president’s action.

“The initial tariffs that the president asked us to put in place were proportionate and responsive to forced technology transfer and intellectual property theft by the Chinese,” he said.

“It is very unfortunate that instead of eliminating these unfair trading practices China said that it intends to impose unjustified tariffs targeting U.S. workers, farmers, ranchers and businesses.”

The decision stems from the conclusions of a Section 301 investigation launched in August that found that China’s theft of intellectual property is costing the U.S. economy billions of dollars.

Trump previously had said he would hit China with another $100 billion in tariffs but had recently appeared to back off that threat. 

The White House’s move is expected to further ramp up trade tensions with Beijing and possibly risk Trump’s push to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.

While on the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly criticized China’s economic and trade practices.

He has in recent weeks decided to implement steep tariffs against China and other key U.S. allies, despite warnings from congressional lawmakers that doing so could harm American workers and erase gains made from the Republican tax package. 

Trump once again touted his relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping. 

“I have an excellent relationship with President Xi, and we will continue working together on many issues,” Trump said. “But the United States will no longer be taken advantage of on trade by China and other countries in the world.”

The U.S. has also imposed tariffs this year of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum from a wide range of nations, including China.

The moves have angered close allies including Canada, Mexico and the European Union, which are pleading their cases to the World Trade Organization and planning their own rounds of tariffs. 

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said that about $75 billion of U.S. exports will be hit with retaliatory tariffs during the first week of July from all of those nations, angering a wide range of business groups and roiling stock markets.