Archives of “Trump tariffs” tag

rss

Trump weighs exempting Apple from China tariffs

  
  Analysis
#  #  #  #  #  #  #  #

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday after touring a plant that assembles Apple computers that he was considering whether to exempt the U.S. company from tariffs on imports from China.

“We’re looking at that,” Trump said in answer to a reporter’s question about the tariffs, after touring a plant in Austin, Texas, with Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook that assembles the company’s Mac Pro desktop computers.

Cook, who has a strong relationship with Trump, has sought relief for Apple from the U.S. tariffs, which are part of a months-long tit-for-tat trade war between the world’s largest economies.

“The problem we have is you have Samsung. It’s a great company but it’s a competitor of Apple, and it’s not fair if, because we have a trade deal with Korea — we made a great trade deal with South Korea — but we have to treat Apple on a somewhat similar basis as we treat Samsung,” Trump said.

Apple announced in September it would make its new Mac Pro computers in Austin. The announcement came days after U.S. trade regulators approved 10 out of 15 requests for tariff exemptions filed by Apple amid a broader reprieve on levies on computer parts.

Earlier this month, Apple also asked the Trump administration to waive tariffs on Chinese-made Apple Watches, iPhone components and other consumer products.

Trump has made boosting the U.S. manufacturing sector one of the goals of his presidency, taking to Twitter to pressure U.S. companies into keeping jobs at home.

Earlier on Wednesday, Apple said it had started construction of a new campus in Austin that will employ 5,000 workers, with the capacity to grow to 15,000. It is expected to open in 2022.

The verbatim of Trump’s latest comments is another sign the deal is falling apart

  
Analysis, Politics
#  #  #  #  #

Trump spoke in a Q&A at Apple headquarters

Trump at Apple
Keep in mind that Trump said earlier in his comments that they were considering exempting Apple from tariffs. To me, that alone says he is already a couple steps along in the process of adding tariffs, or at least strongly considering it.
The main headlines have been reported already but the last part is where the context matters.
Reporter: Will there be a trade deal in place before the end of the year?
Trump: So, I can tell you this: China would much rather make a trade deal than me?
Reporter: Then why haven’t they?
Trump: Because I haven’t wanted to do it yet.
Reporter: Why haven’t you wanted to do it.
Trump: Because I don’t think they’re stepping up to the level that I want
Reporter: I spoke earlier today with Mr Cook and he said another round of tariffs would be bad for business, it would be bad for the United States (interrupted by Trump)
Trump: You know, here’s what I would say. What do you know? I put in tariffs and everyone said ‘Oh geez, you’re taking in hundreds of billions of dollars’ and everyone said ‘oh that’s going to be bad for the economy’. Well, as you just heard from Tim Cook, we have the strongest economy by far in the world and we’re taking in billions and billions. So we’ll see what happens.

(more…)

Tariffs being imposed Dec.15 if no China trade deal, says Mnuchin

  
  Analysis
#  #  #  #  #  #  #

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Monday that an additional round of tariffs on Chinese imports will likely be imposed if a trade deal with China has not been reached by then, but added that he expected the agreement to go through.

“I have every expectation – if there’s not a deal, those tariffs would go in place – but I expect we’ll have a deal,” he said in an interview with CNBC, when asked about a round of tariffs scheduled for Dec. 15.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that China and the United States had reached the first phase of a trade deal that covered agriculture, currency and some aspects of intellectual property protections, and would ease the reciprocal trade restrictions that the world’s two largest economies have been imposing for 15 months.

But officials on both sides have said more work is needed to finalize the accord, and Trump acknowledged the agreement could still collapse. U.S. Trade Representative Lighthizer said on Friday that Trump had not made a decision about the December tariffs.

Mnuchin said more trade negotiations at various levels would take place over the coming weeks, including a phone call between himself, Lighthizer and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, and talks between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

Asked about a dispute between China and the U.S. National Basketball Association stemming from a tweet by Houston Rockets manager Daryl Morey expressing support for pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, Mnuchin said he hoped the two sides could come to a solution.

Trump: If China doesn’t do what US wants, US has lots of options

  
  Analysis
#  #  #  #  #  #

Trump on China trade talks

  • Chinese delegation coming next week for trade talks
  • Says he would like Ukraine to investigate the Bidens
  • North Korea wants to talk and US will be talking

The China comments are tame, he isn’t promising anything. That’s a bit worrisome.

More on those China tariff waiver headlines

  
  Analysis
#  #  #  #  #  #  #  #

Via Reuters

  • China grants tariff waivers for US soybean imports of between 2-3 million tonnes
  • China grants several domestic firms new tariff waivers for US Soybean imports
Nikkei up +0.21%, Hang Seng +0.35% and Shanghai Comp +0.63%. Gentle risk on tones around as JPY and CHF weaken and AUD and NZD strengthen as you would expect for risk on trading.
Via Reuters

Fitch reports on Chinese tariffs impacting US agriculture

  
  Analysis
#  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #

Chinese tariffs stinging farmers

Chinese tariffs stinging farmers
  • Chinese tariffs on US agricultural imports escalate trade related risks to US farm sector , which is experiencing falling sales and land values
  • Ongoing trade wars impact equipment loan and lease ABS collateral performance
  • Ongoing trade wars have placed greater pressure on already stressed US agricultural sector
Biting tariffs will get Trump to the dealing table quicker than anything else, I would say. He won’t want to see tariffs stinging the US.

US imposes new China tariffs, raising levies to pre-WWII level

  
  Analysis
#  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #

The U.S. slapped fresh tariffs on Chinese goods on Sunday to bring the average to more than 20%, comparable with levels seen during the protectionist era preceding World War II.

At 12:01 a.m. EDT, the U.S. imposed additional tariffs of 15% on about $110 billion in imports from China, covering 3,243 items. Consumer goods account for about half — far more than the 20%-plus of the previous round last September, which included such products as furniture. China’s corresponding tariffs against U.S. products took effect at the same time.

U.S. President Donald Trump postponed tariffs on 555 items on the original list — including smartphones — until Dec. 15 to soften the impact on the year-end shopping season. More than 80% of American imports of these goods come from China, and finding alternative sources is difficult. Higher tariffs are likely to lead to price increases, which risk weighing on consumer spending and thus the broader economy.

Digital consumer devices such as smartwatches are among the largest import categories by value affected by Sunday’s tariffs. More than half of all apparel is taxed as well.

China is retaliating with additional duties of 5% to 10% on $75 billion in imports from the U.S. The first tranche covers 1,717 goods including soybeans and crude oil, while the second set being implemented Dec. 15 will cover 3,361 items including autos.

But all told, fewer than 1,800 of these items — only about 35%, including crude oil — are new additions. Most have already been hit by previous rounds of tit-for-tat tariffs.

Beijing has already imposed tariffs on about 70% of its imports from the U.S. by value, and after these rounds, the only items left untouched will be those that it would be disadvantageous to domestic industry to tax, such as large aircraft. Previous tariff rounds have already led to sharp declines in imports of affected goods, and further hikes are unlikely to have much of an effect.

With the September duties, the average American tariff on Chinese goods rises to slightly above 21%, up from about 3% before the trade war, according to Chad Bown of the Peterson Institute for International Economics. China’s average tariff on imports from the U.S. climbs to nearly 22%. (more…)

Pres. Trump: Tariffs that are set to go in place on Sunday against China are still on

  
Analysis, Politics
#  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #

Pres Trump says tariffs will go on as planned on Sunday.

Pres Trump says tariffs will go on as planned on Sunday.
Before departing the White House for the weekend told reporters,
  • He can’t say whether he will speak to Xi, but US is speaking to China
  • Tariffs set to go in place on Sunday against China are still on
  • “We are going to win the fight” with China
  • Trade meeting with China in September is still on, it has not been canceled
  • US is in incredible negotiating position with China because of tariffs it has placed on Chinese imports
  • He sees a connection between situation in Hong Kong and China trade talks
  • Chinese response in Hong Kong will be much more violent if were not for the trade talks
  • Repeats China wants to make a trade deal
On other topics:
  • Too soon to call for evacuation Florida.  Determination will likely be made on Sunday
  • Asked if he would like to see negative interest rates in the United States, says no.

The squeeze remains on.

USTR publishes full list of delayed tariffs. All cell phones included

  
  Analysis
#  #  #

USTR publishes which tariffs to go into effect Dec 15

The US delayed all tariffs on cell phones until December 15, according to lists of tariffs just published.
Here is the Sept 1 list. Here is the Dec 15 list.
The initial statement wasn’t entirely clear but the list shows that all cell phone tariffs are delayed until Dec 15.
Aside from that, there are 1000s of items on each list. I guess the lists show who has the better lobbyists, and which parts of the economy/market the White House didn’t want to hurt.

Who Is Winning The Trade War?

  
  Analysis
#  #  #  #  #  #  #

China on Wednesday urged the Trump administration to “make up its mind” about reaching a trade deal with Beijing, warning that additional tariffs could send negotiations further off track. — South China Morning Post, July 17

We state emphatically,

Nobody Wins In A Trade War

We’re not sure how to even keep score in a trade war.  The relative performance of stock markets?  Economies?

Trade Deficit

President Trump likes to look at the bilateral trade deficit.   However, during his tenure, the cumulative trade deficit with China has increased by almost $100 billion, 8 percent higher relative to the prior 28 months before he took office.

 

China Trade War (more…)

Go to top