Trump Holds Discussion over Potential Tariffs to China

US President Donald Trump will hold talks with his top trade advisers on Thursday to decide whether to implement the threatened tariffs on Chinese goods, according to a Trump administration official, with China urging again to settle the dispute via talks.

Trump is set to unveil the revisions to his initial tariffs list that targetted $50 billion of Chinese goods on Friday. People familiar with the revisions stated that the list will be a bit smaller than the original. They said that some goods were swiped off from the list while there were some that were added, specifically in the technology sector.

Another official from the administration said that a draft document showed that the new list would still be close to $50 billion. The person also said that it included about 1,300 product categories. However, both the dollar amount and quantity of products were still subject to change.

The date of the implementation of Trump’s tariffs still remains unclear, even if he decides to actually implement them. Multiple industry lobbyists reportedly said that they expect the move to come as early as Friday, while sporting a publication of a Federal Register notice. On the other hand, it could be put off until next week.

If Washington implements the tariffs, Beijing is seen to respond with its own tax duties on US imports such as soy beans, chemicals, cars, and planes, according to a list that it released in early April.

Following the 1974 trade law, which Trump invoked for him to pursue a tariff investigation into intellectual property practices in China, the US president could delay the activation by 30 days. He can also hold up the tariffs by another 180 days if the US Trade Representative’s office finds that the discussions with China result to progress.

“The president’s trade team has recommended tariffs. If there are not tariffs, it will be because the president has decided that he’s not ready to implement tariffs,” a person familiar with the Trump administration’s deliberation reportedly stated.

On the flip side, that recommendation came before Trump’s trip late last week to Canada for the G7 leaders summit, and to Singapore for talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un with whom he discussed the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Trump went back to Washington early on Wednesday morning. During an interview on Wednesday, Trump said that he was “very strongly clamping down on trade” with China.

“Well, I think very strongly. I mean you’ll see over the next couple of weeks. They understand what we are doing,” said Trump.

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