Donald Trump has imposed a fresh round of tariffs on Chinese goods that will be entering the US from next week.
The US President has intensified the trade war by introducing $200 billion worth of tariffs on almost 6,000 items including electronics and food.
Trump said in a statement: “If China takes retaliatory action against our farmers or other industries, we will immediately pursue phase three, which is tariffs on approximately $267 billion of additional imports.”
“For months, we have urged China to change these unfair practices, and give fair and reciprocal treatment to American companies. We have been very clear about the type of changes that need to be made, and we have given China every opportunity to treat us more fairly. But, so far, China has been unwilling to change its practices.”
Since the announcement, China’s commerce ministry has said that it has no choice but to retaliate but has given no further details as of yet. Last month, China said it would retaliate with tariffs on another $60 billion of US goods.
China’s ministry of commerce has not excluded talks with the US, saying: “The US insisting on imposing tariffs brings uncertainty to both sides during negotiations. [We] hope the US will recognise the potentially negative consequences of such actions and take measures to correct them.”
As well as implementing tariffs on China, Trump sent countries a warning via Twitter saying he would have no problem raising tariffs if they fail to agree “fair” trade.
“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. If countries will not make fair deals with us, they will be ‘Tariffed!,'” he tweeted.
The financial markets have been rattled as the trade conflict has intensified between the US and China.