President Donald Trump announced Monday night that he is ordering an additional $200 billion in tariffs be levied against Chinese imported goods, raising the stakes in the burgeoning trade war between the two countries.
Trump first announced Friday plans for $50 billion in new tariffs on Chinese goods - $34 billion of which would go into effect on July 6 – to punish China for intellectual property theft and forced technology transfer. China reacted immediately and announced a similar plan for retaliatory tariffs, targeting U.S. agriculture commodities and seafood.
Angered over the retaliation, Trump is now ordering the U.S. Trade Representative to assign tariffs worth an additional $200 billion to Chinese goods.
“This latest action by China clearly indicates its determination to keep the United States at a permanent and unfair disadvantage, which is reflected in our massive $376 billion trade imbalance in goods,” Trump said in a statement. “This is unacceptable. Further action must be taken to encourage China to change its unfair practices, open its market to United States goods, and accept a more balanced trade relationship with the United States.”
U.S. soybean growers are on the front lines and farmers are already bracing for the impact of Chinese tariffs.
“Nobody is a winner today,” said American Soybean Association Vice President Davie Stephens, who grows soybeans in Kentucky. “In the midst of a down farm economy and down farm prices, this uncertainty has led to a drop of market prices. Adding additional export market uncertainty through an expected 25 percent retaliatory tariff on U.S. soybeans into China ensures that soy growers and the rural communities that depend on them will see the effects of this for years to come.”
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