Christopher ZeniosThe tariff is set to begin on the 1st of September and was announced following the most recent bilateral talks that proved to be unsuccessful. That tax is likely to hit a variety of goods imported such as tech and clothing.
Wang Yi – Chinas Foreign Minister commented on the announcement stating “Adding tariffs is definitely not a constructive way to resolve economic and trade frictions, it’s not the correct way,”
President Trump announced the tariffs online tweeting
…during the talks the U.S. will start, on September 1st, putting a small additional Tariff of 10% on the remaining 300 Billion Dollars of goods and products coming from China into our Country. This does not include the 250 Billion Dollars already Tariffed at 25%…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 1, 2019
It is likely the prices could escalate even further as later Trump stated that the 10% Tariff is short term and that the tariff could be increased to 25%.
He went on further to criticize China for not buying US agricultural products after stating they would honour the promise to do so.
Impact of the tariffs on the US
The Dow Jones share index closed down 1.1% with Asia markets lowered and oil prices tumbling on Wall Street. Due to the impact, the Federal Reserve Cuts Rates for the first time since 2008.
The impact has caused the US Chamber of Commerce to petition both sides to remove tariffs commenting the most recent tariffs
will only inflict greater pain on American businesses, farmers, workers, and consumers, and undermine an otherwise strong US economy.
The words of this statement ring true as US citizens are now paying the price for the ongoing trade war. One example is of Sherrill Mosee “I’ve been building my business, and growing it year after year, and then this happened”
Mosee is a founder of a bag company based in the US that manufactures in China and ships internationally. The price of her imports has now almost doubled leaving her to look into loans to find the money to pay for the increased tariffs.
As a small business, my finances were already a little tight. I had to figure out how I was going to get the money to operate the business. We’re all paying for this, not [only] China
She has also had to raise the prices of her product by 25% to balance the cost resulting in US and international customers paying more due to the tariff war.
Sherrill Mosee is just one of many examples that have been impacted. Some companies have gone as far as shifting production altogether.
American Chambers of Commerce in China and Shanghai recently conducted a survey that found that 40% of people are considering moving business to avoid tariff costs, with most business looking to South East Asia.
