White House Moves Ahead With Tough Trade Measures on China
By Ana Swanson
Wilbur Ross, left, the United States commerce secretary, and Li Keqiang in Beijing last year. Mr. Ross is expected to return to Beijing on June 2 to continue trade talks.
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration said on Tuesday that it would proceed with plans to impose a series of punitive trade-related measures on China in the next month, intensifying pressure on Beijing as trade talks between the countries continue.
The White House said in a statement that the United States would move ahead with its plan to levy 25 percent tariffs on $50 billion of imported Chinese goods, despite recent remarks by Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, and other administration officials that the tariffs would be suspended while the countries continued their negotiations.
The administration had previously announced a list of goods that would be subject to tariffs, including flat-screen TVs and medical devices.
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration said on Tuesday that it would proceed with plans to impose a series of punitive trade-related measures on China in the next month, intensifying pressure on Beijing as trade talks between the countries continue.
The White House said in a statement that the United States would move ahead with its plan to levy 25 percent tariffs on $50 billion of imported Chinese goods, despite recent remarks by Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, and other administration officials that the tariffs would be suspended while the countries continued their negotiations.
The administration had previously announced a list of goods that would be subject to tariffs, including flat-screen TVs and medical devices.
It then held a series of hearings on the tariffs, giving the public a chance to influence the final list.
The White House said it would detail the final list of goods that will be subject to the tariffs by June 15, and the duties would be imposed shortly after that, the statement said.
The White House said the Trump administration would also move forward with restrictions on Chinese investment and with stronger export controls meant to limit the access that Chinese people and companies have to American technology — a measure the administration said was for national security purposes.
Those restrictions will be announced by June 30 and adopted soon after that, the administration said, adding that the United States would also continue to pursue a trade case it has filed against China at the World Trade Organization involving intellectual property rights.
Trade talks between the two countries will continue, the statement said, and the United States has asked Beijing to remove “all of its many trade barriers” that prevent American companies from doing business in China, and has also said that “tariffs and taxes between the two countries be reciprocal in nature and value.”
The White House has planned to send Wilbur Ross, the commerce secretary, to China on June 2 to continue the trade negotiations.
The White House said the Trump administration would also move forward with restrictions on Chinese investment and with stronger export controls meant to limit the access that Chinese people and companies have to American technology — a measure the administration said was for national security purposes.
Those restrictions will be announced by June 30 and adopted soon after that, the administration said, adding that the United States would also continue to pursue a trade case it has filed against China at the World Trade Organization involving intellectual property rights.
Trade talks between the two countries will continue, the statement said, and the United States has asked Beijing to remove “all of its many trade barriers” that prevent American companies from doing business in China, and has also said that “tariffs and taxes between the two countries be reciprocal in nature and value.”
The White House has planned to send Wilbur Ross, the commerce secretary, to China on June 2 to continue the trade negotiations.
The last round of talks concluded on May 19 with the countries announcing little progress toward resolving a long list of complaints the American negotiators had previously identified.
President Trump subsequently said he was not satisfied with the negotiations, and that they had a “long way to go.”
Mr. Trump has often talked about challenging what he has described as China’s unfair trade practices, but his advisers are deeply divided over the best course for doing so.
Mr. Trump has often talked about challenging what he has described as China’s unfair trade practices, but his advisers are deeply divided over the best course for doing so.
Some, like Mnuchin, have focused on a potential compromise deal that would require China to buy huge amounts of American products while still forestalling the possibility of a trade war.
Other advisers have pushed for tougher action, demanding that China make substantial reforms to its economy to end the subsidies it provides to developing industries and to allow American companies equal access in the Chinese market.
Other advisers have pushed for tougher action, demanding that China make substantial reforms to its economy to end the subsidies it provides to developing industries and to allow American companies equal access in the Chinese market.
Those requests in particular have provoked a backlash from China, which has threatened its own potential set of tariffs on $50 billion in American goods.
On Friday, Mr. Trump said he had reached a deal that would allow the embattled Chinese telecom firm ZTE to remain in business, raising criticism and fears from Congress that he was backing off from his tougher promises on trade.
ZTE has been hit with tough sanctions by the United States, and its fate had become a bargaining chip in negotiations, with Xi Jinping appealing directly to Trump for help.
On Friday, Mr. Trump said he had reached a deal that would allow the embattled Chinese telecom firm ZTE to remain in business, raising criticism and fears from Congress that he was backing off from his tougher promises on trade.
ZTE has been hit with tough sanctions by the United States, and its fate had become a bargaining chip in negotiations, with Xi Jinping appealing directly to Trump for help.
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