Trump is about to take a direct shot at China in a growing trade battle
- President Donald Trump will announce new tariffs on Chinese goods on Thursday.
- The tariffs will apply to around $50 billion of Chinese goods.
- China will reportedly respond with tariffs on US agricultural goods.
- The moves is part of an escalating fight over trade between the US and China.
President Donald Trump will announce new tariffs on imports of Chinese goods Thursday, striking another blow in what has become an escalating trade battle.
The tariffs will apply to around $50 billion worth of Chinese goods, according to multiple reports, on everything from electronics to clothing. In addition to the tariffs, the crackdowns will also restrict certain types of Chinese investments into the US.
"Tomorrow the president will announce the actions he has decided to take based on USTR's 301 investigation into China's state-led, market-distorting efforts to force, pressure, and steal U.S. technologies and intellectual property," White House deputy press secretary Rak Shah said in a statement Wednesday.
These tariffs stem from a Trump administration investigation into the theft of US intellectual property by China.
The move is another in a series of trade actions taken by the Trump administration to crack down on Chinese imports and attempt to even out the large trade imbalance with the country.
Since the start of the year, Trump has announced tariffs on imports of solar panels, washing machines, steel, and aluminum.
Trump is expected to announce the tariffs at an event at 12:30 pm ET on Thursday.
According to Wall Street Journal's Lingling Wei, Yoko Kubota and Liza Lin, China is set to respond to the new tariffs with measures designed to hit directly at areas that supported Trump in the 2016 election. These measures will include restrictions on imports of soybeans and sorghum, both key exports for US farmers. China makes up more than 50% of all exports of those two products.