Tag: Trump trade war

Report: China tariffs tab approaches $1 billion for Minnesotans

A global trade advocacy group predict businesses face price hike pressure and could be forced to freeze hiring.

Minnesotans have faced nearly $1 billion in additional tariffs since February 2018, according to a new report from advocacy groups favoring global trade.

Using import and export data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, consultants for the groups Americans for Free Trade and Farmers for Free Trade said new tariffs on Chinese imports totaled $632 million in Minnesota from February 2018 through August 2019. In addition, Minnesota farmers and other businesses faced $343 million in retaliatory tariffs placed on American exports that cut their sales significantly.

In August, the tariff toll on Minnesotans was $60 million for importers of Chinese products and $46 million for those facing Chinese retaliation, said Americans for Free Trade, a coalition of other trade groups whose members include Minnesota multinationals such as Best Buy, Target Corp., 3M, Ecolab, Cargill, Medtronic and General Mills.

View the complete October 9 article by Jim Spencer on The Star Tribune website here.

Trump’s latest tariffs could mean higher food and drink prices — and not just for French wine

Washington Post logoThe list reads like something that could go under the header of “things that are delicious.” French, Spanish and German wine. Spanish olives. Parmesan. Stilton. Currant jelly.

But this isn’t a menu at a Euro-chic bistro; it’s a government document out this week spelling out the products subject to a 25 percent increase in tariffs beginning Oct. 18. The expansive array of wines, cheeses, produce, meat and seafood imported to the United States from European Union countries is caught up in a trade war that has nothing to do with Irish butter or sweet biscuits from the United Kingdom. (They’re getting a 25 percent tariff increase, too).

Their inclusion on the list, though, means that the price of that bottle of Cotes du Rhone you like to pick up at the grocery store or the cheese plate at your neighborhood bistro could go up. But price hikes on the foods covered by the new tariffs are only part of the story: Ripple effects could mean higher prices on other items at stores or in restaurants, as people up and down the food chain make up for the new costs, experts say.

View the complete October 5 article by Emily Heil on The Washington Post website here.

Trump’s latest tariffs could mean higher food and drink prices — and not just for French wine

Washington Post logoThe list reads like something that could go under the header of “things that are delicious.” French, Spanish and German wine. Spanish olives. Parmesan. Stilton. Currant jelly.

But this isn’t a menu at a Euro-chic bistro; it’s a government document out this week spelling out the products subject to a 25 percent increase in tariffs beginning Oct. 18. The expansive array of wines, cheeses, produce, meat and seafood imported to the United States from European Union countries is caught up in a trade war that has nothing to do with Irish butter or sweet biscuits from the United Kingdom. (They’re getting a 25 percent tariff increase, too).

Their inclusion on the list, though, means that the price of that bottle of Cotes du Rhone you like to pick up at the grocery store or the cheese plate at your neighborhood bistro could go up. But price hikes on the foods covered by the new tariffs are only part of the story: Ripple effects could mean higher prices on other items at stores or in restaurants, as people up and down the food chain make up for the new costs, experts say.

View the complete October 5 article by Emily Heil on The Washington Post website here.

Farmers are slamming Trump’s $28 billion farm bailout — more than double Obama’s 2009 payment to automakers — as a ‘Band-Aid’

Farmers are slamming Donald Trump over his trade war with China, saying his administration’s bailouts to the agricultural industry are like a ‘Band-Aid’ when it comes to helping those affected by the tariffs.

As president, Trump has repeatedly slapped tariffs on Chinese goods entering the United States, sparking tit-for-tat tariff hikes from China on products including agricultural goods.

As a result, exports of goods such as soybeans and pork to China have dropped off dramatically, with the Financial Times reporting that in the first five months of 2019, the US exported 4.3 million tonnes of soybeans to China, down from 15.2 million in the same period last year.

View the complete September 23 article by Yusuf Khan on the Insider website here.

Trump delays increase in China tariffs until Oct. 15

The Hill logoPresident Trump said Wednesday that the U.S. will delay an upcoming increase in tariffs on $250 billion worth of goods from China at the request of Beijing, calling it a “gesture of good will.”

Trump tweeted that he would push back tariffs set to go into effect on Oct. 1 to Oct. 15 at the request of Chinese Vice Premier Liu He because the People’s Republic of China will be celebrating its 70th anniversary on Oct. 1.

“At the request of the Vice Premier of China, Liu He, and due to the fact that the People’s Republic of China will be celebrating their 70th Anniversary on October 1st, we have agreed, as a gesture of good will, to move the increased Tariffs on 250 Billion Dollars worth of goods (25% to 30%), from October 1st to October 15th,” Trump wrote in a pair of tweets.

View the complete September 11 article by Morgan Chalfant on The Hill website here.

China to remove tariffs on some U.S. products, but not pork or soybeans

Washington Post logoBEIJING — China extended an olive twig, rather than a branch, to the United States in the trade war Wednesday, announcing it would exempt 16 American-made products from tariffs as a sign of goodwill ahead of talks scheduled for next month.

But the gesture, which Beijing said was designed to ease the dispute’s impact on American companies, does not offer relief from tariffs on the big-ticket agricultural products such as soybeans and corn that are causing the most hurt in the United States.

“China wants to claim the moral high ground before the October talks and to send a message of goodwill,” said Yao Xinchao, professor of international trade at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing. “It’s all about molding public opinion” to portray the United States as the aggressor, Yao added.

View the complete September 11 article by Anna Fifield on The Washington Post website here.

Six in 10 Americans expect a recession and higher prices as Trump’s approval rating slips, Washington Post-ABC News poll finds

Washington Post logoPresident Trump is ending a tumultuous summer with his approval rating slipping back from a July high as Americans express widespread concern about the trade war with China and a majority of voters now expect a recession within the next year, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

The survey highlights how one of Trump’s central arguments for reelection — the strong U.S. economy — is beginning to show signs of potential turmoil as voters express fears that the escalating trade dispute with China will end up raising the price of goods for U.S. consumers.

The poll also shows a schism between Americans’ continued positive ratings of the economy and fears of a downturn, with far more saying Trump’s policies have increased chances of a recession than decreased it.

View the complete September 10 article by TOluse Olorunnipa and Scott Clement on The Washington Post website here.

Trump is losing much more than just a trade war — he’s losing the future

AlterNet logoWhile White House reporters investigate who added a Sharpie line to a hurricane map, a huge global story is developing that bodes badly for the economic welfare of Americans for decades to come.

China is using Trump’s gratuitous trade war to expand its economic, diplomatic and military influence. And it is succeeding, diminishing America’s influence, especially in the Western Pacific and India. The long-term cost to America in lost opportunities and ultimately diminished economic growth will be catastrophic.

These days China can reduce its reliance on America, which takes only one-fifth of its exports. It is also trying to build enough confidence in its stability to make the yuan a second world currency, perhaps eventually supplanting the dollar. A shift away from the dollar would have enormous negative consequences for Americans.

View the complete September 9 article by David Cay Johnston from DC Reports on the AlterNet website here.

As billions flow to farmers, Trump administration faces internal concerns over unprecedented bailout

Washington Post logoSenior government officials, including some in the White House, privately expressed concern that the Trump administration’s nearly $30 billion bailout for farmers needed stronger legal backing, according to multiple people who participated in the planning.

The bailout was created by the Trump administration as a way to try to calm outrage from farmers who complained they were caught in the middle of the White House’s trade war with China. In an attempt to pacify farmers, the Agriculture Department created an expansive new program without precedent.

As part of the program, the USDA authorized $12 billion in bailout funds last year and another $16 billion this year, and Trump has said more money could be on the way.

View the complete September 9 article by Jeff Stein on The Washington Post website here.

China’s trade with US shrinks as tariff war worsens

BEIJING (AP) — China’s trade with the United States is falling as the two sides prepare for negotiations with no signs of progress toward ending a tariff war that threatens global economic growth.

Imports of American goods tumbled 22% in August from a year earlier to $10.3 billion, customs data showed Sunday. Exports to the United States, China’s biggest market, sank 16% to $44.4 billion.

Both sides have raised tariffs on billions of dollars of each other’s imports in the fight over complaints about Beijing’s trade surplus and technology development plans. The United States, Europe, Japan and other trading partners say those violate Chinese market-opening commitments.

View the complete September 8 article by Joe McDonald on the Associated Press website here.