The Chinese government said Wednesday that it would retaliate if the Trump administration followed through with its threat to sharply hike tariffs on its goods by midnight Thursday. The warning comes on the eve of China’s Vice Premier Liu He coming to the United States to continue trade talks.
“China deeply regrets this, and will be forced to take necessary countermeasures if the U.S. side puts the tariff measures into effect,” Beijing said Wednesday, according to a statement in its official Xinhua news service. The statement did not indicate how exactly it would retaliate.
The White House has claimed that in the last week China has attempted to renege on several pledges it had made previously following months of trade negotiations between the two countries, prompting President Trump to vow on Sunday to escalate existing tariffs if China did stick to the earlier agreement.
The U.S. Trade Representative’s Office on Wednesday posted the official notice that it would raise the existing tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese good to 25% across the board, up from 10% in most cases and adding 25% tariffs to additional goods, all in line with Trump’s threat. The White House has said the new tariffs would cover $325 billion in goods, effectively placing all goods coming in from China under a 25% levy.
The midnight Thursday deadline gives the U.S.and Beijing fewer than 24 hours following Liu’s arrival in the U.S. to reach an accommodation.
Trump tweeted Wednesday that he believed a deal could be still reached. But if not, he was happy to leave the tariffs in place. “China has just informed us that they (Vice-Premier) are now coming to the U.S. to make a deal. We’ll see, but I am very happy with over $100 Billion a year in Tariffs filling U.S. coffers…great for U.S., not good for China!”
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