Donald Trump, who had come to Springfield, Missouri, to advocate for Josh Hawley, a Republican candidate at the upcoming elections, promised “to come back” with “a lot more” to China, if it retaliates against US tariffs targeting $200 billion of Chinese goods.
“We are cracking down on the unfair trade practices of China. … We have rebuilt China. We have given them such wealth. And we are changing it. So we charged 25 percent on $50 billion worth of merchandise tariffs coming in. And then they said, ‘We're going to do the same thing.’ And I've said: ‘That is okay. We have far more bullets,’ he told a cheering crowd, as he discussed different points on the country’s agenda.
This threat came shortly after China added tariffs on $60 billion of the US products as a countermeasure for the US implied 10% tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods starting from September, 24. On January 1, 2019, the tariffs are expected to grow up to 25%.
This speech got mixed reactions on social media, as some feared there’d be negative consequences of the ongoing showdown.
The Eric Cartman of Presidents pic.twitter.com/Vjgd56YmFV
— muttly (@muttlysaid) 22 сентября 2018 г.
Actually Trump is playing tough for the midterm elections. He knows everything in USA in made in China cannot win the trade war. Just to let u know, the farmers in the south east are losing their export to China. And Trump are losing this part of electors
— L'Inter dei 3 olandesi (@DocKid1) 22 сентября 2018 г.
*TRUMP SAYS `HAVE A LOT MORE' ON TARIFFS IF CHINA RETALIATES
— Sunchartist (@Sunchartist) 22 сентября 2018 г.
Yup trade is not going to escalate
Others stood for Trump, defending his vision.
Actually he's a trained economist and knows what he's doing. While there may be multiple paths that take us where we want to go, you'd better give him a chance… almost nobody in the media is willing to be reasonable. But try it. You'll like it.
— petaluma (@petaluma) 22 сентября 2018 г.
It has to be said to the credit of President Trump that he has called the Chinese bluff, and bluntly told the Chinese that this won't do. You can't have 25% tariff on import of automobiles into China when USA imposes a tariff of only 2.5% for import of cars into USA.
— Express (@PhoenixKffr) 22 сентября 2018 г.
At the same time, on September 22, it became known that China had pulled out of high-ranking talks on tariffs, according to The Wall Street Journal. Beijing has cancelled two delegation set to meet US officials in Washington, one of which was to be headed by vice-premier Liu He. Next week they are expected to continue negotiating the tariff war with US representatives.
READ MORE: China Concerned US Could Pull Out of WTO Deal Cutting Tariffs on Tech Goods
Chinese-US trade tensions escalated in March after US President Donald Trump announced import tariffs on steel and aluminum. Since then, Washington and Beijing have imposed several rounds of tit-for-tat tariffs, with bilateral trade consultations so far failing to halt the mounting trade war.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted that further escalations of the trade spat between the United States and China will have negative consequences for both countries, as well as the global economy.
