Beijing: The US is likely to ramp up pressure on China by raising existing tariffs if a trade deal is not reached soon between the two countries, a key White House advisor has said.
The world’s two largest economies have been locked in a bruising trade war since Trump in March last year imposed tariff hikes of up to 25 per cent on $250 billion of Chinese goods.
In response, China, the world’s second largest economy after the US, imposed tit-for-tat tariffs on $110 billion of American goods.
Michael Pillsbury, advisor to the White House on China policy, said that Trump would likely escalate the trade war by raising existing tariffs, if no deal is reached.
In an interview in Hong Kong on Thursday, Pillsbury said that Trump had been “remarkably restrained in the pressure he has brought to bear on China in the trade field”.
Both sides so far have held 12 rounds of talks but failed to work out a deal as China continued to resist Trump’s demand for intrusive verification mechanism to supervise Beijing’s promise to protect intellectual property rights (IPR) technology transfer and more access to American goods to Chinese markets.
Trump delayed a planned tariff hike on $250 billion of Chinese goods as a “gesture of good will” ahead of China’s 70th year of National Day celebrations October 1.
The two countries are preparing for the next round of trade talks in Washington in October. “Does the president have options to escalate the trade war? Yes, the tariffs can be raised higher. These are low level tariffs that could go to 50 per cent or 100 per cent,” Pillsbury was quoted as saying.
