Trump’s Tariff War With World Intensifies
WASHINGTON (Dispatches) – U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted another tariff threat Friday, this time targeting imported autos from the European Union.
The president said on his feed that if the EU does not remove duties on U.S. cars, then the U.S. will have no choice but to act.
The threat comes just two days after Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said no decision had been made on whether the U.S. would extend the volley of tariffs it has imposed on other goods to the automobile industry.
Trump's tweet rippled through the financial markets. The president has railed against unfair tariffs slapped on U.S. goods in other countries and has vowed to reduce the trade deficit the country has with other nations, particularly China.
China escalated its war of words with the U.S. over trade tariffs with the country’s commerce ministry warning that the interests of U.S. workers and farmers would be hurt by what it described as Washington's desire to brandish "big sticks."
Ministry spokesman Gao Feng accused Washington of trying to "blackmail” Beijing by threatening to impose further tariffs on Chinese products.
He said Beijing was not hopeful about negotiations with the U.S. because the U.S. government – as he put it – was being "unpredictable” and "challenging”.
"It is deeply regrettable that the US has been capricious, escalated the tensions, and provoked a trade war," Gao said. "The U.S. is accustomed to holding 'big sticks' for negotiations, but this approach does not apply to China."
He was responding to U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest threat to hit $200 billion worth of Chinese imports with 10 percent tariffs if Beijing retaliates against his previous announcement to target $50 billion in imports, and to target another $200 billion worth of Chinese products if Beijing chooses to fight back. If it makes good on its threats, U.S. actions could affect as much as $450 billion worth of Chinese imports, Reuters added.
Meanwhile, Chinese state media called on Beijing not to be distracted by US protectionism, which they censured as a self-defeating "symptom of paranoid delusions.”
Meanwhile, India and Turkey have begun implementing retaliatory tariffs against the United States, joining the European Union (EU), China, and other countries in adopting matching measures against U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration.
New Delhi announced in a notice issued late on Thursday that the retaliatory tariffs would be imposed on 30 American products worth $240 million and that they would come into force on August 4.
India’s adoption of the new duties on a slew of farm products, steel, and iron imported from the U.S. came some three months after Trump raised concerns when he decided to impose 25-percent tariffs on steel imports and a 10-percent tariff on aluminum imports, primarily to target China, but also U.S. allies such as European countries.
Trump argued at the time that enormous flows of imports to the U.S. were putting in jeopardy the American national security, making an odd departure from a decades-long US-led move toward open and free trade.
Last month, India filed a complaint at the World Trade Organization (WTO) against the US over the steel and aluminum duties after New Delhi failed to win an exemption.
Turkey’s Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci also announced that Ankara would begin implementing retaliatory duties worth $266.5 million against the U.S. on Thursday over "ill-advised” and "unsupportable” additional steel tariffs introduced by the White House.
The counter-tariffs will be imposed on imports of, among other things, U.S. coal, paper, walnuts/almonds, tobacco, unprocessed rice, automobiles, cosmetics, machinery equipment, and petrochemical products.
"The total tariff burden today being imposed by Turkey on the U.S. is commensurate with the additional costs Turkey faces due to the tariffs imposed on it by the U.S.,” he said in a statement, adding, "They are proportional, measured and designed to protect Turkey’s interests, while encouraging dialog.”
Zeybekci, however, added that Ankara would remain committed to active, robust and reciprocal trade relations with Washington.
The retaliatory move by New Delhi and Ankara came a day after the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, announced that the bloc had decided to charge higher import duties on a range of U.S. products.
The president said on his feed that if the EU does not remove duties on U.S. cars, then the U.S. will have no choice but to act.
The threat comes just two days after Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said no decision had been made on whether the U.S. would extend the volley of tariffs it has imposed on other goods to the automobile industry.
Trump's tweet rippled through the financial markets. The president has railed against unfair tariffs slapped on U.S. goods in other countries and has vowed to reduce the trade deficit the country has with other nations, particularly China.
China escalated its war of words with the U.S. over trade tariffs with the country’s commerce ministry warning that the interests of U.S. workers and farmers would be hurt by what it described as Washington's desire to brandish "big sticks."
Ministry spokesman Gao Feng accused Washington of trying to "blackmail” Beijing by threatening to impose further tariffs on Chinese products.
He said Beijing was not hopeful about negotiations with the U.S. because the U.S. government – as he put it – was being "unpredictable” and "challenging”.
"It is deeply regrettable that the US has been capricious, escalated the tensions, and provoked a trade war," Gao said. "The U.S. is accustomed to holding 'big sticks' for negotiations, but this approach does not apply to China."
He was responding to U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest threat to hit $200 billion worth of Chinese imports with 10 percent tariffs if Beijing retaliates against his previous announcement to target $50 billion in imports, and to target another $200 billion worth of Chinese products if Beijing chooses to fight back. If it makes good on its threats, U.S. actions could affect as much as $450 billion worth of Chinese imports, Reuters added.
Meanwhile, Chinese state media called on Beijing not to be distracted by US protectionism, which they censured as a self-defeating "symptom of paranoid delusions.”
Meanwhile, India and Turkey have begun implementing retaliatory tariffs against the United States, joining the European Union (EU), China, and other countries in adopting matching measures against U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration.
New Delhi announced in a notice issued late on Thursday that the retaliatory tariffs would be imposed on 30 American products worth $240 million and that they would come into force on August 4.
India’s adoption of the new duties on a slew of farm products, steel, and iron imported from the U.S. came some three months after Trump raised concerns when he decided to impose 25-percent tariffs on steel imports and a 10-percent tariff on aluminum imports, primarily to target China, but also U.S. allies such as European countries.
Trump argued at the time that enormous flows of imports to the U.S. were putting in jeopardy the American national security, making an odd departure from a decades-long US-led move toward open and free trade.
Last month, India filed a complaint at the World Trade Organization (WTO) against the US over the steel and aluminum duties after New Delhi failed to win an exemption.
Turkey’s Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci also announced that Ankara would begin implementing retaliatory duties worth $266.5 million against the U.S. on Thursday over "ill-advised” and "unsupportable” additional steel tariffs introduced by the White House.
The counter-tariffs will be imposed on imports of, among other things, U.S. coal, paper, walnuts/almonds, tobacco, unprocessed rice, automobiles, cosmetics, machinery equipment, and petrochemical products.
"The total tariff burden today being imposed by Turkey on the U.S. is commensurate with the additional costs Turkey faces due to the tariffs imposed on it by the U.S.,” he said in a statement, adding, "They are proportional, measured and designed to protect Turkey’s interests, while encouraging dialog.”
Zeybekci, however, added that Ankara would remain committed to active, robust and reciprocal trade relations with Washington.
The retaliatory move by New Delhi and Ankara came a day after the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, announced that the bloc had decided to charge higher import duties on a range of U.S. products.