CHINA/TARIFFS/TRADE WAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The United States could impose tariffs on roughly half of all Chinese goods entering the country by the end of the week. President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods could go into effect as soon as Friday [9-7-18] when a public comment period on the taxes concludes. It’s unclear whether the new tariffs will be set at 10% or 25%. It could be the most painful round of tariffs the United States has imposed on Chinese products this year. The Trump administration slapped 25% tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese imports in July and another $16 billion last month. China was also on the receiving end of the aluminum and steel tariffs that the United States imposed on imports from much of the world. China is the United States’ largest trading partner. Almost $506 billion of Chinese goods were sold in the United States last year. But the tariffs are meant to punish China for what the Trump Administration says are unfair trade practices, such as stealing intellectual property. China has accused the United States of trade bullying. Beijing has retaliated at each step of the way. It has imposed 25% tariffs on $50 billion of American goods to date. It’s also threatened to respond to the newest round with tariffs on another $60 billion of US goods. It’s hard for China to match the United States’ tariff on $200 billion of goods because the United States exports far less to China.”
–Katie Lobosco, “Trump’s tariffs could hit $200 billion of Chinese goods this week,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, September 4, 2018 8:42 am