Trade war deepens as Trump hits back at China with more tariffs

According to a statement made by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) on August 23, the US will increase tariffs on approximately $550 billion worth of Chinese goods by 5%. The latest decision came in retaliation for China’s latest move to raise levies on $75 billion worth of US goods.

Accordingly, the current 25% levy on approximately $250 billion worth of Chinese imports will be raised to 30% by October 1, 2019. The list of products was not released at the time of publication.

The USTR also announced that the proposed 10% tariffs on approximately $300 billion Chinese imports that the President Trump had announced earlier this month, will increase to 15%, effective as the already scheduled date, September 1.

As was previously mentioned in detail in ChemOrbis Plastics News US postpones new tariffs on certain Chinese imports, Trump had delayed the extra levies on $300 billion worth of Chinese goods back in mid-August due to concerns that they would hamper shopping season for Christmas. The postponed tariffs largely included consumer goods such as cellphones, laptops and clothing.