President Trump said Thursday that while trade negotiations remain ongoing with China, his administration was preparing “at least” $300 billion in new tariffs on their goods if the talks fall apart.
“Our talks with China, a lot of interesting things are happening. We’ll see what happens … I could go up another at least $300 billion and I’ll do that at the right time,” Trump told reporters Thursday in Ireland’s Shannon Airport.
He added: “But I think China wants to make a deal.”
Trade talks between the the White House and China fell apart last month after the Trump administration accused Beijing of attempting to walk back concessions it made earlier in the talks. Beijing had denied it ever made the concessions in the first place.
Following the breakdown, the White House raised tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods to 25% across the board, up from 10% in most cases, and has begun the process to institute 25% tariffs on a further $300 billion worth of goods. This would effectively cover all imports from China. Trump, however, has periodically vowed to hit China with tariffs on $325 billion worth of goods instead of the $300 billion, indicating he believes there still may be room to extend the tariffs further.
Trump has argued in recent days that the atmosphere surrounding the negotiations has improved, asserting that China has hinted it wants to get a deal. Beijing, however, has turned up its rhetoric against the U.S.
“If the United States willfully decides to escalate tensions, we’ll fight to the end,” China’s Ministry of Commerce spokesman Gao Feng told reporters, adding that, “We’ll adopt necessary countermeasures and resolutely safeguard the interests of China and its people.”
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is scheduled to meet with People’s Bank of China Governor Yi Gang this weekend at the G20 summit in Japan.
