Washington, DC --The trade war is on. President Trump announced he is ordering 10% tariffs beginning Sept. 24 on the $200 billion worth of Chinese imports on a list released July 10, NPR reports.
The list included a variety of items the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) and the National Products Association (NPA) listed as necessary for the natural products industry, ranging from amino acids to dried fruits.
Supply Chain Dive reports 300 lines were removed from the list, including chemicals used in manufacturing and agriculture.
The tariff is currently 10%, and should China fail to make the concessions Trump is looking for, it will jump to 25% at the end of the year.
China responded with levies on $60 billion worth of U.S. products, ranging from 5% to 10%.
According to NPR, China has stated that should the U.S. further escalate the trade war, they will respond in kind.
“We are ready to negotiate and talk with China any time that they are ready for serious and substantive negotiations,” said White House chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow.
NPR also quoted Trump as predicting a deal with China.
Trump has said “if China takes retaliatory action against our farmers or other industries, we will immediately pursue phase three, which is tariffs on approximately $267 billion of additional imports,” noted Shefali Kapadia in Supply Chain Dive.
Kapadia pointed out that, should Trump add $267 billion to what we have already taxed, the total value of Chinese goods taxed by the U.S. would hit $517 billion, which is more than the value of goods the U.S. imported from China in 2017.
NPA is hosting a webinar on Thursday from 1 - 2:30 PM Eastern.
