The Chinese regime on Aug. 15 said it would retaliate against planned U.S. tariffs on $300 billion of Chinese goods, as President Donald Trump said any trade deal would have to be on America’s terms.
In a statement, China’s finance ministry claimed the new tariffs, set to take effect next month, violated a consensus reached between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the G-20 summit in Japan in June.
On Aug. 1, frustrated with the progress of trade talks, Trump announced that tariffs of 10 percent would be imposed on $300 billion worth of Chinese imports, blaming Beijing for not following through on promises to buy more U.S. farm goods and curb the flow of fentanyl to the United States.
Trump and Xi had agreed while in Japan to restart trade talks, after negotiations broke down in May. U.S. officials said the Chinese regime had backtracked on provisions already agreed upon.
On Aug. 15, Trump said that any future trade deal must meet U.S. demands.
The trade dispute has been complicated by the ongoing protests in Hong Kong. Trump, in a tweet on Aug. 14, linked the resolution of the political crisis in Hong Kong to a future trade agreement.
“Of course China wants to make a deal. Let them work humanely with Hong Kong first!” he wrote.
On Aug. 13, the Trump administration decided to delay tariffs for some goods on the $300 billion tariff list, including laptops, cellphones, and video game consoles that are manufactured in China, to shield U.S. businesses from being harmed during the holiday sales season. Tariffs on those goods will now come into effect in mid-December.
Trump said the tariff delay is beneficial to Beijing.
“It actually helps China more than us, but will be reciprocated. Millions of jobs are being lost in China to other non-Tariffed countries. Thousands of companies are leaving,” he wrote on Twitter on Aug. 14.
