President Trump threatens more China tariffs

Trump on Squawk Box — (Image credit: CNBC)

President Trump said in an interview on CNBC's Squawk Box on Friday that he was prepared to impose tariffs on all $500 billion in Chinese imports if China doesn't ease its trade policies toward the U.S. "I'm ready to go to 500," Trump told CNBC's Joe Kernen.

The Trump administration so far has hit China with tariffs on $34 billion in Chinese goods, prompting China to respond in kind. The Trump administration is now reviewing potential levies on $200 billion in Chinese products, and China has threatened to retaliate again if Trump goes through with the proposal. Trump said the tariffs are necessary to get China to treat U.S. companies fairly, and stop forcing them to hand over their technology for access to Chinese markets.

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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.