Donald Trump ‘may be ready to press’ the punitive China tariff button

US President Donald Trump might soon take executive action against China in the form of punitive tariffs, a former senior US State Department official warned in Hong Kong on Thursday.

Daniel Russel, former assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, said political pressure might force Trump to act soon, especially with the US business community no longer Beijing’s ally in the fight against protectionist measures.

“The warning signs that point towards some sort of some series of tough trade actions by the Trump administration towards China are unmistakable,” Russel said at the South China Morning Post’s annual China Conference.

He said there was “not only wide political movement, both grass roots and congressional, behind the sense that tough action is going to be needed to convince China to make adjustments, but most worrisome is that the US business community, while not united”, had become too frustrated by obstacles it faced operating in China to fight protectionist policies aimed at Beijing.

Trump drew support during the 2016 presidential election primaries by proposing a 45 per cent tariff on imports of goods from China. He backed away from that threat before he met his counterpart Xi Jinping in Florida less than three months after assuming office.