A new package of tariffs targeting another $200 billion in Chinese exports to America "could take place very soon depending on what happens," President Trump said Friday, as could an additional set of taxes on $267 billion in goods including mobile phones. Predictably, Beijing will respond in kind.
"If the U.S. side obstinately clings to its course and takes any new tariff measures against China, then the Chinese side will inevitably take countermeasures to resolutely protect our legitimate rights," said Chinese Foreign Ministry representative Geng Shuang on Monday. He did not specify what the countermeasures would be.
Though Trump's trade war is intended to eliminate China's trade surplus with the United States, the surplus is actually on the rise. It hit a record monthly high in August, increasing from $28.09 billion in July to $31.05 billion last month. If Trump moves forward with the two new rounds of tariffs he has proposed, he will have levied new taxes ranging from 5 to 25 percent on everything America imports from China.
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