WASHINGTON, D.C. – Trade talks with China are set to resume in Washington Friday, hours after the US raised the price of bringing Chinese goods into this country. Those tariffs kicked in at midnight.
Friday morning, China threatened to retaliate.
At midnight, tariffs—the price China pays to bring $200 billion in goods to the US— jumped from 10 to 25%.
It affects clothes, groceries, electronics, furniture, sporting goods, and more.
President Trump explained why he thinks it happened right in the middle of negotiations. “They renegotiated the deal. I mean they took, whether it’s intellectual property theft, they took many parts of that deal and renegotiated that. Can’t do that.”
Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) said, “China’s been cheating for far too long.”
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MS) sad, “They cannot build their middle class, worse their military on the backs of American farmers and American manufacturers and American workers, this has to stop.”
But could the US tariffs backfire? After the last round, a Maine lobster company took a 60 percent hit. Stephanie Nadeau with the Lobster Co. said, “I used to have 16 to 20 employees, based on the season, and now I have approximately half, I have about 10.”
Andrew Goulden makes his living catching lobsters. He said, “Last year we’re getting about seven bucks a pound this time of the year, and now we’re getting $5.75.”
And prices are expected to go up. New Jersey company Kent International is already charging $20 more per bike. Chairman & CEO Arnold Kamler said, “We’ve had no choice but to pass these costs on to our customers.”
Remodeling your kitchen? Tile could cost more. President and CEO of Case Design Bruce Case said, “It’s probably about a seven-point-eight percent increase, net increase to the consumer.”
All riding on talks set to resume Friday. Overnight, a Chinese state-run newspaper tweeted the talks are still on.
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