(Photo: AP）
Washington (People's Daily) - US President Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum on Thursday addressing tariffs on Chinese imports. In an exchange before the signing, the president said his administration is planning to levy tariffs on up to $60 billion worth of imports from China and impose investment restrictions on technology transfer and acquisitions by China.
In an earlier briefing, White House aides indicated US is planning to levy $50 billion in tariffs on imports from China. The reason for the discrepancy in the numbers remains unclear.
“This has been long in the making,” Trump said, adding that the tariffs could affect as much as $60 billion in goods.
This latest move by the White House is based on Section 301 investigation conducted by the US Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer.
There is significant concern that the current move by the Trump Administration will escalate protectionism which will disadvantage the economies of not only US and China, but carry a spillover effect globally, also.
In light of a looming trade war between the world’s two largest economies, the Dow Jones industrial average sank more than 350 points following Trump’s announcement.
"Nobody can gain from a trade war. It will affect the daily life of American middle-class people, the balance sheet of American companies, and the indexes of the financial market," said Cui Tiankai, China’s ambassador to the US, Thursday morning.
The accusations against China on stealing American companies' intellectual property "are totally groundless" and "is a kind of discrimination," Cui said.
