US Section 301 tariffs on USD 34B of Chinese imports are going to take effect at 12:01 Eastern time Friday, that is, just hours away. Ahead of that, Trump raised his threat again and warned of tariffs on up to USD 500B of Chinese goods. He told reports that “you have another 16 (billion dollars) in two weeks, and then, as you know, we have $200 billion in abeyance and then after the $200 billion, we have $300 billion in abeyance. Ok? So we have 50 plus 200 plus almost 300.”
China Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also State Councilor, slammed trade protectionism as “short-sighted” behavior that could harm all sides. And he reiterated China’s position that unilateral acts would go against the rules of the WTO and pose damages to the multilateral global trading system. China said earlier that its retaliation will start once the US tariffs kick in.
