President Trump on Sunday tweeted that he plans to increase tariffs on Chinese goods because of the slow pace of trade negotiations. CNBC reports that Chinese Vice Premier Liu He will likely cancel his trip to the US planned for this week. They cite another source saying that the message from Trump was to encourage Liu to not come with more “empty offers”.
Dow futures have dropped over 450 points since news broke that China is considering skipping this round of talks.
….of additional goods sent to us by China remain untaxed, but will be shortly, at a rate of 25%. The Tariffs paid to the USA have had little impact on product cost, mostly borne by China. The Trade Deal with China continues, but too slowly, as they attempt to renegotiate. No!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 5, 2019
Republican Senators met with President Donald Trump last week to discuss steel and aluminum tariffs and the effect they’re having on possible passage of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement. Bloomberg says the senators talked about economic and political concerns on the tariffs, the negotiations with China, as well as new tariffs that Trump is threatening to impose on auto imports from the European Union. The group emphasized just how important it is to get Trump’s trade deal with Canada and Mexico passed through Congress. Senate Finance Committee Chair Chuck Grassley told the president they want to work with him to “get past the steel and aluminum tariff issue so USMCA can become law.”
However, Bloomberg says the appeal didn’t seem to work. Trump followed up the meeting with a Twitter post declaring that “the tariffs are working for Pennsylvania,” one of the key states that helped him to get elected. Grassley’s most pointed attack on the president’s tariffs came in a Wall Street Journal op-ed piece. Grassley wrote that Trump’s signature trade agreement is “dead-on-arrival if he decides not to lift the tariffs on steel and aluminum.”