Sources close to the White House Administration suggest that President Donald Trump supports adding even more tariffs on Chinese goods as early as the end of this week. In an Oval Office interview with Bloomberg, Trump did not deny this claim, saying it was "not totally wrong."
President Trump could impose another $200 billion worth of tariffs on Chinese imports, straining an already tense relationship between Beijing and Washington. The president has continued to criticize China's management of the yuan, saying the country has devalued its currency in response to a recent slowdown in economic growth.
The proposed 25% tariffs by the Trump administration on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods will raise prices on a wide range of everyday items, affecting everything from selfie sticks to semiconductors and materials used in consumer products that were omitted in earlier trade agreements. The news is not as bad as one might expect for the short term - the Chinese government has taken measures to prop up demand, so that China's official factory gauge actually strengthened this month despite Trump's tariffs. Still, the addition of a crushing $200 billion worth of additional tariffs may cause China's growth to shrink even further in the long term and have resounding effects in global financial markets. The US has already imposed levies on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods. China has retaliated in kind.
Trump hasn't made his final decision, and if he does enact the duties, it's possible he'll spread them out in installments rather then apply them all at once. Trump might also announce the tariffs, but schedule them to take effect later on. Trump has already done this; his administration waited about three weeks after announcing in mid-June the imposition of tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese goods. Accordingly, the next stage of tariffs on $16 billion of goods took hold at a later date in August.
In response to the news that Trump is considering more tariffs, the Chinese warned that they would retaliate by slapping duties on $60 billion of US goods.
There is a six day hearing period for companies and trade groups to come and testify before the US trade representative prior to any tariffs being imposed.