WASHINGTON - In response to China's new round of retaliatory tariffs, President Trump has announced another round of tariff hikes.
Trump and the White House will raise existing duties on $250 billion in Chinese products from 25 percent to 30 percent on October 1. Also, the $300 billion in Chinese goods set to be tariffed at 10 percent beginning September 1 will go up to 15 percent.
As usual, Trump announced the tariff increases in a series of tweets. In the thread, he wrote that China "should not have put new Tariffs on 75 BILLION DOLLARS of United States product (politically motivated!)"
In his tweet thread, Trump also said American companies “are hereby ordered to immediately start looking for an alternative to China, including bringing your companies HOME and making your products in the USA.”
He did not elaborate by what he meant by "ordered."
The recently announced tariffs from China was a retaliation to the U.S. tariff hike announced by Trump early August. Products on the Chinese retaliatory tariff list include hardwood lumber, logs, and veneer exports.
Last week, the U.S. removed tariffs from some products, including furniture, and delayed others until December 15.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative called China's tariff retaliation "unjustified" and said it would publish in the Federal Register "as soon as possible any additional details" on Trump's new duties.
Chinese retaliatory tariffs have been in place since June, affecting $60 billion of more than 5,000 U.S. goods. Wood, tariffed from 5 percent to 25 percent, is among those products, including oak (25%), cherry and ash (20%) and walnut, hard maple, tulipwood and alder (5%).
Other tariffs in place by China on U.S. made wood products include moldings, rods, particleboard, various types of plywood, doors, charcoal, corks, and stoppers, and wicker and bamboo baskets. Furniture items include bedding, mattresses, car seats, wood chairs, furniture designed for offices, kitchens, chandeliers, and lamps.
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