Trump hits China with more tariffs, says Xi moving too slow on trade

Moody’s said the new tariffs would weigh on the global economy at a time when growth is already slowing in the United States, China and the euro zone

International News: US President Donald Trump said he plans to impose a 10 per cent tariff on $300 billion of Chinese imports from September 1 and could raise tariffs further if China’s President Xi Jinping fails to move more quickly to strike a trade deal.

The announcement on Thursday extends Trump’s trade tariffs to nearly all China’s imports into the United States and marks an abrupt end to a temporary truce in a trade war that has disrupted global supply chains and roiled financial markets. “I think President Xi … wants to make a deal, but frankly, he’s not going fast enough,” Trump said.

Trump made the announcement in a series of Twitter posts after his top trade negotiators briefed him on a lack of progress in US-China trade war talks in Shanghai this week. Trump later said if trade negotiations fail to progress he could raise tariffs further – even beyond the 25 per cent levy he has already imposed on $250 billion of imports from China. The news hit US financial markets hard.

Oil prices plummeted 7 per cent, with Brent crude registering the biggest daily percentage drop since February 2016. The benchmark S&P 500, which had been in solidly positive territory on Thursday afternoon, closed down 0.9 per cent. Benchmark US Treasury yields also fell. Retail associations predicted a spike in consumer prices. Target Corp tumbled 4.2 per cent, Macy’s Inc fell 6 per cent and Nordstrom Inc was down 6.2 per cent.