White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow warned that the Trump administration could still move forward with tariffs on China despite media reports to the contrary.
“The reality is those tariffs are still on the table, the Dec. 15 tariffs, and the president has indicated if the short strokes remaining in negotiations do not pan out to his liking that those tariffs could go back into place,” CNBC quoted Kudlow as saying at a Wall Street Journal conference.
“So, they could not, but they also could. There is no definitive decision on that yet,” Kudlow said, CNNC reported.
Kudlow’s comments came after the Wall Street Journal reported the U.S. was contemplating pushing back additional tariffs on Chinese goods set to take effect on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Bloomberg News also reported that Chinese officials expect the U.S. will delay a threatened tariff increase set for Sunday as both sides focus on de-escalating tensions by cutting import taxes currently in place rather than removing specific products from the target list, according to people familiar with the matter.
Beijing sees the removal of the Dec. 15 threat enabling talks to continue on the unfinished items in phase-one of the accord, two officials said on condition on anonymity because the conversations are private. While the Trump administration has yet to announce any postponement, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said Monday that he believed there will be “some backing away.”
Reducing the existing tariff rates will enable negotiators to avoid having to choose which among thousands of goods can receive relief. The U.S. has added a 25% duty on about $250 billion of Chinese products and a 15% levy on another $110 billion of its imports over the course of a 20-month trade war.
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