President Trump To Increase Tariffs on Chinese Imports By $200 billion
In a pair of Twitter messages on Sunday, President Trump wrote he plans to raise levies on $200 billion in Chinese imports to 25% starting Friday, from 10% currently. He also wrote he would impose 25% tariffs “shortly” on $325 billion in Chinese goods that haven’t yet been taxed.
Trump is increasing the tariffs on Chinese imports because he believes that the current trade negotiations between the two countries are taking too long.
Trump has long said tariffs give him leverage in trade deals, whether they involve China or allies like Canada, Mexico and the European Union.
But, it is far from clear that the U.S. would actually raise tariffs on Friday.
That is because the U.S. trade representative may believe he needs to give U.S. industry notice of a substantial tariff change. U.S. officials have moved slowly in implementing tariffs, fearing they could open the door to a legal challenge that could halt their use of the levies.
What It Means for the U.S. Farmer: At FBN, we believe that the new round of tariffs is negative for the U.S. farmer. While the U.S. has not exported corn, DDGS, sorghum to China in any material volumes since 2016 we believe that the tariff increase could possibly slow soybean exports even further.
The risk of trading futures, hedging, and speculating can be substantial. FBN BR LLC (NFA ID: 0508695)
