Next round of US tariffs on China at least a month away, says US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin
- Trump has threatened to slap tariffs of up to 25 per cent on an additional list of Chinese imports worth US$300 billion
- No decision expected for ‘another 30 to 45 days’ as US studies impact on consumers
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin outlined on Wednesday what amounts to more breathing room in the trade war with China, saying a potential increase in tariffs on US$300 billion worth of mostly consumer goods is now at least a month away.
Speaking before the US House Committee on Financial Services, Mnuchin emphasized that an exclusion process would be in place should President Donald Trump follow through on his threat to increase tariffs on a fourth tranche of Chinese exports up to 25 per cent. The process would allow regulators to single out specific products for protection from increases in tariffs.
“I think you know, the process of round four, there won’t be any decision probably for another 30 to 45 days, and we will have an exclusion process built and ready if the president decides to go forward with that,” Mnuchin said.
“The last tranche is under investigation. The president has not yet made the decision, and consumer products are by design in the last tranche,” he added.
This month, the Trump administration increased existing tariffs on US$200 billion in Chinese goods to 25 per cent, up from 10 per cent. The move was taken just before Chinese officials traveled to Washington to try to settle the 10-month trade dispute. Beijing retaliated with its own set of new tariffs on $60 billion worth of US imports.
Representative Ben McAdams, Democrat of Utah, highlighted baby diapers, strollers and other childcentric products that would be subject to the new tariffs, prompting Mnuchin to say he was speaking with large consumer retail companies like WalMart to track prices, which he said, have not gone up so far.
