Report: Trump to Unveil Massive ‘Package of Tariffs’ Against China

Trump and China Xi
Saul Loeb/AP

President Trump is expected to unveil a massive “package of tariffs” against China in the coming weeks, multiple sources close to the White House told Politico.

Trump is seeking “steep” tariffs against China for their alleged stealing of intellectual property and dumping of cheap, imported goods in the U.S., sources claim. In a meeting at the White House, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer showed Trump a “package of tariffs,” but the populist president demanded the tariffs be even steeper.

Politico reports:

During the meeting, which hasn’t been previously been reported, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer presented Trump with a package of tariffs that would target the equivalent of $30 billion a year in Chinese imports. In response, Trump urged Lighthizer to aim for an even bigger number – and he instructed administration officials to be ready for a formal announcement in the coming weeks, according to two people involved in the administration’s trade deliberations. [Emphasis added]

That sent senior officials at the White House, Treasury Department, State Department, Justice Department, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and other key agencies scrambling this week to finalize the proposal. While the details were still in flux, aides said the administration is considering tariffs on more than 100 Chinese products ranging from electronics and telecommunications equipment to furniture and toys. [Emphasis added]

Sources with Reuters say Trump is eyeing tariffs on China that would hit at least $60 billion worth of their annual cheap, imported goods in the U.S.

https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/973660530467590145

The Politico sources say the tariffs against China will be announced soon, although the details of the tariffs remain unclear.

Trump’s cracking down on China — a commitment he made on the campaign trail — will come in the same month that his senior economic adviser Gary Cohn, an opponent of Trump’s economic nationalist agenda, resigned from the White House.

As Breitbart News reported, Gary Cohn, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, Kevin Hassett, and Everett Eissenstat pushed Trump to water down his actions against China’s helping to ruthlessly globalize the American economy.

Most recently, Trump followed through on his economic nationalist agenda by imposing a 25 percent tariff on imported steel and a 10 percent tariff on imported aluminum, both designed to protect American workers.

The globalist wing of the Republican Party, including Cohn, House Speaker Paul Ryan, and President George W. Bush consultant Karl Rove — all defenders of the U.S. job-killing Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade deal — opposed Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs.

Since China entered the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001, there have been 3.2 million American jobs lost with 2.4 million of those jobs coming from the U.S. manufacturing sector.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.

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