he 15% U.S. taxes apply to about $112 billion
of Chinese imports. All told, more than
two-thirds of the consumer goods the United
States imports from China now face higher
taxes. The administration had largely avoided
hitting consumer items in its earlier rounds of
tariff increases.
But with prices of many retail goods now likely to
rise, the Trump administration’s move threatens
the U.S. economy’s main driver: consumer
spending. As businesses pull back on investment
spending and exports slow in the face of weak
global growth, American shoppers have been a
key bright spot for the economy.
“We have got a great economy,” said Sen.
Pat Toomey, R-Pa. “But I do think that the
uncertainty caused by volatile tariff situation
and this developing trade war could jeopardize
that strength, and that growth, and that is, I
think, that’s a legitimate concern,” he told ABC’s
“This Week.”
As a result of Trump’s higher tariffs, many U.S.
companies have warned that they will be
forced to pass on to their customers the higher
prices they will pay on Chinese imports. Some
businesses, though, may decide in the end to
absorb the higher costs rather than raise prices
for their customers.
In China, authorities began charging higher duties
on American imports at midday September 1º,
according to employees who answered the phone
at customs offices in Beijing and the southern port
of Guangzhou. They declined to give their names.
Tariffs of 10% and 5% apply to items ranging from
frozen sweet corn and pork liver to marble and
bicycle tires, the government announced earlier.