US to slap 10% tariff on $200bn of China goods

Bloomberg

The Trump administration will announce that it’s imposing a 10 percent tariff on $200 billion of Chinese goods, which Beijing has already said it will retaliate against, reports said.
The rate is less than half of the 25% level the administration had initially been considering. Still, American consumers could start feeling the cost of the tariffs for everyday goods, as the latest move brings all Chinese imports subject to a new tariff to $250 billion, roughly half of China’s shipments to the US last year.
Trump is barreling ahead with his vow to punish China for alleged unfair trading practices, despite an invitation this month from Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to restart trade talks with Beijing. Chinese officials have signaled they’ll refuse to meet with Mnuchin if this next round of tariffs is imposed.
The Wall Street Journal reported that US plans to impose 10 percent tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods in the coming days and they will take effect within weeks.
American businesses have come out strongly against the tariffs, saying they have the potential of raising retail prices. US stock futures edged lower, Asian equities slumped and European shares fluctuated amid investor concerns a heightened trade war will crimp corporate profits and undermine economic growth.
The president early on Monday seemed to undermine any efforts for a negotiated solution, saying tariffs have bolstered the US bargaining position, while cost increases to consumers have been negligible and warned of more levies.
“Tariffs have put the US in a very strong bargaining position, with Billions of Dollars, and Jobs, flowing into our Country – and yet cost increases have thus far been almost unnoticeable,” Trump said on Twitter. “If countries will not make fair deals with us, they will be ‘Tariffed!’”
The administration since July has already slapped 25 percent tariffs on $50 billion of Chinese goods. China has said it will respond to the next round of US levies with retaliatory tariffs on $60 billion of US goods ranging from liquefied natural gas (LNG) to aircraft.