Donald Trump has announced the introduction of new tariffs on China amounting to $60 billion in annual tariffs, fulfilling his threats to punish Beijing for intellectual property theft, reports The Hill.
Senior congressmen advised Trump to implement a tariff package of $30 billion, but Trump decided to double the amount, with tariffs affecting over 100 products.
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Trump claims that these products were developed using the trade secrets of American companies that China either stole or requested in exchange for market access. Many fear that China could retaliate, which would trigger a trade war that could have drastic consequences for the US economy.
Although the recently announced import tariffs do not apply to the US’s most important trading partners, such as Canada and Mexico, the European Union believes that a number of countries could impose tariffs on the US as a countermeasure.
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Many Republicans oppose the import tariffs on steel and aluminum, and Senator Jeff Flake has introduced legislation to repeal the tariffs. Gary Cohn, a proponent of free trade, resigned from his position as economic advisor to the US president, and the tariffs aimed at China are likely to receive significant support from the Republican Party, which is unhappy about Beijing’s intellectual property theft.
