Tag: economy

by Peggy Chang   The White House says it plans to impose 25 percent tariffs on $50 billion of Chinese goods that contain “industrially-significant technology” as trade talks between United States and China continue. The White House said Tuesday the proposed tariffs are in response to China’s practices with respect to technology transfer, intellectual property, and innovation.  It will announce the final list of covered imports by June 15, 2018, and the tariffs will be imposed shortly thereafter. The Trump administration made the announcement in a statement called “Steps to Protect Domestic Technology and Intellectual Property from China’s Discriminatory and Burdensome Trade Practices.” Other punitive steps include implementing stronger investment restrictions and enhanced export controls for Chinese citizens and companies related to the acquisition of industrially significant technology to protect national security. The proposed investment restrictions and export controls will be announced by June 30, 2018, and adopted shortly thereafter, according to the White House. In addition, the Trump administration said trade talks with China will continue, and it will request China remove all of its many trade barriers, including non-monetary trade barriers, and that tariffs and taxes between the two countries be “reciprocal in nature and value.” In April,…

President Trump says American farmers will be big beneficiaries of more trade with China. “Under our potential deal with China, they will purchase from our Great American Farmers practically as much as our Farmers can produce,” Trump said Monday on Twitter. In another comment, he said China “has agreed to buy massive amounts of ADDITIONAL Farm/Agricultural Products – would be one of the best things to happen to our farmers in many years!” The U.S. leader said one result of talks with China last week in Washington is barriers to U.S.-Chinese trade and tariffs on each country’s exports will “come down for (the) first time.” President Trump’s tweets come a day after U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced the two nations have agreed to back away from imposing tough new tariffs on each other’s exports, after reaching a deal Saturday for Beijing to buy more American goods to “substantially reduce” the huge trade deficit with the United States. Mnuchin told Fox News the world’s two biggest economic powers “made very meaningful progress and we agreed on a framework” to resolve trade issues. “So right now we have agreed to put the tariffs on hold while we try to execute the…

The U.S. and China said Sunday they have agreed to back away from imposing tough new tariffs on each other’s exports, a day after reaching an accord calling for Beijing to buy more American goods to “substantially reduce” the huge U.S. trade deficit with China. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told Fox News the world’s two biggest economic powers “have made very meaningful progress and we agreed on a framework” to resolve trade issues. “So right now we have agreed to put the tariffs on hold while we try to execute the framework.” China’s state-run news agency Xinhua quoted Vice-Premier Liu He, who led Chinese negotiators in trade talks in Washington this past week, as saying, “The two sides reached a consensus, will not fight a trade war, and will stop increasing tariffs on each other.” Liu said the agreement was a “necessity.” But he added: “At the same time it must be realized that unfreezing the ice cannot be done in a day, solving the structural problems of the economic and trade relations between the two countries will take time.” U.S. President Donald Trump had threatened to impose new tariffs on $150 billion worth of Chinese imports and Beijing…

by Michael Bastasch   President Donald Trump’s administration’s release of a list of 35 critical minerals highlights just how reliant the U.S. is on foreign imports, according to mining advocates. “What we see is the degree of U.S. dependency — the US is 100 percent import-dependent for 14 of the 35 minerals and more than 50 percent dependent for another 16,” said Daniel McGroarty, a principal at the American Resources Policy Network, which advocates for domestic mining. “That’s more than 50 percent dependent for 30 of the 35 minerals on the list — materials that are critical for the national economy, for high-tech, for alternative energy applications, for national security,” McGroarty added in a statement issued Friday. Republicans and mining advocates have warned for years the U.S. was too dependent on foreign countries — especially China and Russia. The U.S. also imports large amounts of critical minerals from Canada, a staunch ally. Trump’s administration has called for boosting domestic critical mineral production for months. The department’s finalized list of critical minerals also contains Secretary Ryan Zinke’s call to “expedite access” for miners. [ RELATED: Coal State Lawmakers Fighting For Retired Miners ] “The Critical Minerals List is a great starting point,” McGroarty said. “The question now…

By Robert Romano   The past month has seen President Donald Trump significantly toughening up the U.S. stance on trade, enacting a 25 percent tariff on steel and 10 percent on aluminum and then $60 billion worth of tariffs against China for intellectual property theft and steel dumping. The month was capped off by an announcement that South Korea had agreed to concessions reducing exports of steel to the U.S. and an increase in U.S.-made automobile imports. Just this past week, Congress tucked a renewal of the $21 billion a year General System of Preferences. The program “provide[s] opportunities for many of the world’s poorest countries to use trade to grow their economies…” according to the U.S. Trade Representative website. It does so by giving participating, poor countries a certain amount of duty-free imports to the U.S. Here’s the problem. In 2017, the top recipient was the seventh largest economy in the world, India, at $5.6 billion. The third top recipient was eighth largest economy, Brazil, at $2.5 billion. If these are two of the larger economies in the world, why do they still qualify for the General System of Preferences as being exclusive for the “world’s poorest countries”? The answer is they really shouldn’t.…

President Trump’s top trade adviser on Friday reassured jittery investors and business leaders that the U.S. was not starting a trade war with China, after new tariffs start Wall Street selloff. “We are not trying to pick a fight with anybody. We are just trying to get a better deal for the American people.

U.S. President Donald Trump imposed tougher economic sanctions on China on Thursday, setting the stage for $60 billion in new tariffs on Chinese imports that could quickly lead to a trade war with Beijing. The U.S. leader targeted China’s alleged years-long theft of U.S. intellectual property, imposing new restrictions on Chinese investment in the U.S. that mirror regulations that American companies face when they invest in China.

President Trump said Monday that he’ll reconsider tariffs on aluminum and steel if Canada and Mexico agree to new terms on NAFTA. “We have large trade deficits with Mexico and Canada. NAFTA, which is under renegotiation right now, has been a bad deal for U.S.A. Massive relocation of companies & jobs.

Australia Sunday warned against tit-for-tat retaliation and the outbreak of a trade war that could slow global economic growth, as it pushed to be excluded from US President Donald Trump’s steel and aluminium tariffs. Canberra has sought to be exempt from the hefty tariffs, citing an understanding reached with the United States at G20 meetings last year. There are also local industry concerns that the tariffs could see cheap steel destined for the US flood the domestic market instead.

The White House’s director of the office of trade policy on Sunday said there will be no country “exclusions” at this point for new tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.

Beijing has protested against Washington’s decision to impose sanctions against Chinese companies accused of conducting illicit economic deals with North Korea, the foreign ministry said. US President Donald Trump on Friday announced measures targeting more than 50 North Korea-linked shipping companies, vessels and trade businesses, hailing the package as the “heaviest sanctions ever” levied on the nuclear-armed regime.