Tariffs on Chinese goods, worth $34 billion, landing on the US shores kicked-in, when the clock ticked into Friday. It is an event which has the potential to propel the world into a full blown trade war. Moreover, President Donald Trump on Thursday upped the ante by saying the US would consider imposing additional tariffs on $500 billion in Chinese goods, should Beijing retaliate.
China, on its part has vowed to retaliate with equal amount of tariffs on US automobiles, agricultural and other products. The Chinese media lashed out at the US, just before the tariffs were to kick-in, calling Washington a “gang of hoodlums.’
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Besides the tariffs on $34 billion worth of Chinese goods that kicked in on Friday, tariffs on another $16 billion are expected to go into effect in two weeks Trump told reporters, aboard Air Force One on his way to a rally in Montana, before the tariffs kicked in.
First “34, and then you have another 16 in two weeks and then as you know we have 200 billion in abeyance and then after the 200 billion we have 300 billion in abeyance. Ok? So we have 50 plus 200 plus almost 300,” media persons on board Air Force reported Trump as saying.
Stock markets in East Asia and China have been jittery in the run-up to the deadline, while currency markets and oil markets have been nervous ahead of the move.
Though the immediate impact of the tariffs is expected to be negligible, experts feel it will have a long term impact on global investment, trade flows and eventually economic growth.
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