Trump once wanted to double tariffs on China

On August 23, China announced to impose import tariffs on $75 billion of products from the US in response to Washington’s previous tariffs. CNBC quoted sources close to the president as saying that President Trump’s first reaction when he heard this news was to propose to advisers to double the current taxes. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer then asked many CEOs to call the President and warn him about the consequences of this move for the stock market as well as the economy.

In the end, Trump decided to only raise 5% more with about $ 550 billion in Chinese goods. This was announced by him on the same day of August 23, after the market closed. Days later, both Mnuchin and White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham said Trump regretted not raising taxes higher.

Concerns about the trade war between the two world economies caused US stocks to drop yesterday. The new tariffs of both the US and China took effect on September 1. On Monday, China sued the United States to the World Trade Organization (WTO) over the imposition of import tariffs. Last month’s US manufacturing data also fell for the first time in three years.

On Tuesday, Trump wrote on his personal page that he could act harder on China’s trade policies, if re-elected next year and the two countries still have not reached an agreement. For more than a year, Trump has repeatedly imposed tariffs on China to force the country to change policies he called unfair. “We’re negotiating very well with China,” he said.

The US and China plan to negotiate this month. However, neither side has announced a specific time.

According to Vnexpress