U.S. Steams Ahead with New Tariffs on Chinese Goods

The Trump administration is moving closer this week to sharply broadening tariffs on Chinese goods even as it begins a new round of talks with China to scrap the protective taxes.

The good cop/bad cop approach is championed by President Donald Trump, who sees it as a powerful deal-making ploy, sources tell The Wall Street Journal.

The Trump administration and Beijing currently are imposing 25% tariffs on $34 billion worth of each other’s goods. The White House is poised to expand the U.S. total to $16 billion on Thursday, a move that is likely to be immediately matched by China.

At the same time, the administration is moving ahead with plans to widen its tariffs of 10% or 25% to span $200 billion in Chinese imports this autumn. A week of public hearings about the impact of the move, which would cover thousands of consumer products, began yesterday.

Many observers believe the Trump administration has already made up its mind to proceed, regardless of the impact on U.S. companies. “They aren’t really listening to people,” the American Chemistry Council tells the Journal. The trade group won exemptions to the first round of U.S. tariffs, only to have tariffs restored and expanded to new products in the next wave of import taxes..

Trade talks to end the U.S.-China trade war are expected to begin tomorrow. Officials representing both countries say the goal is to reach an agreement by November, when Trump and China’s top leader Xi Jinping are scheduled to meet during multinational summits.