Trump says tariffs on remaining Chinese goods set to come into force
US President Donald Trump has confirmed that further tariffs on Chinese goods will come into force unless a trade deal between the two sides is reached.
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In an interview with US news network CNBC, Trump said that if Chinese President Xi Jinping did not attend the G20 meeting in Japan at the end of June in an effort to strike a deal, tariffs on $300bn of Chinese imports would go live.
“If we don’t make a deal, you’ll see a tariff increase,” Trump said. “From our standpoint the best deal we could have is 25 per cent [tariffs] on $600bn [of Chinese goods] and then those companies are gonna move into other locations.”
Trump ratcheted up tariffs on $200bn of Chinese goods from 10 per cent to 25 per cent at the start of May.
If the US raised tariffs on another $300bn of goods from China, it would mean essentially all Chinese imports were levied.
The US president criticised China for devaluing its currency to make its goods cheaper to cope with the rising tariffs.
Trump told CNBC: “They devalue their currency, they have for years. It’s put them at a tremendous competitive advantage, and we don’t have that advantage because we have a Fed that doesn’t lower interest rates.”
He added: “Our Fed is very, very destructive to us.” Trump has long criticised the US’s central bank for not lowering interest rates, a move which he has said would make the economy “rocket”.
In the CNBC interview, Trump also said US actions against giant Chinese technology firm Huawei could be on the table as part of a deal between the two sides.
Trump said he wants to meet Xi to strike a deal at the G20 summit which will take place in Osaka, Japan from 28 to 29 June.
Read more: Trump ‘could ease’ restrictions on Huawei
China is yet to confirm whether or not its president will attend the meeting of world leaders.