Trump Ratchets Up Tariffs on China, Drawing Swift Response From Beijing
President Trump’s 10 percent tariff on all Chinese products went into effect at 12:01 a.m.Tuesday, the result of an executive order issued over the weekend aimed at pressuring Beijing to crack down on fentanyl shipments into the United States.The Chinese government swiftly announced a series of retaliatory steps, including additional tariffs on coal, natural gas, farm machinery and other products from the United States.
It also said it had implemented restrictions on the export of certain critical minerals, many of which are used in the production of high-tech products.In addition, Chinese market regulators said they had launched an antimonopoly investigation into Google.Google is blocked from China’s internet, but the move may disrupt the company’s dealings with Chinese companies.The U.S.
tariffs, which Mr.Trump said on Monday were an “opening salvo,” come on top of levies that the president imposed during his first term.
Many Chinese products already faced a 10 or 25 percent tariff, and the move adds a 10 percent tariff to more than $400 billion of goods Americans purchase from China each year.Mr.Trump had been planning to hit America’s three largest trading partners, Canada, Mexico and China, with tariffs of varying degrees.
But after days of frantic negotiations, Mr.Trump agreed to pause tariffs on Mexico and Canada for 30 days after the Canadian and Mexican governments promised to step up their oversight of fentanyl and the border.On Monday, Mr.
Trump said he planned to speak with the Chinese leader Xi Jinping within the next 24 hours, but it was not clear when the phone call would take place.A White House official confirmed Monday afternoon that the tariffs with China were still set to take effect at midnight.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
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