Chinese Tariffs Increased to 25% at Midnight Thursday

Washington, DC, May 10, 2019-The Trump administration has increased tariffs from 10% to 25% on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports, including flooring, “and threatened to impose additional levies on virtually everything China exports to the U.S.” reports the Wall Street Journal.

The tariffs apply to goods leaving China and entering the U.S. after mid­night on Thursday, May 9. Air freight shipments will be hit right away, but cargo that was loaded onto ships in China before Friday and is already bound for U.S. ports won’t be subject to the levies.

“The tariff hike went into force hours after U.S. and Chinese negotiators met Thursday in hopes of getting the troubled trade talks back on track. Discussions are set to resume Friday, but the White House said it had no plans to suspend the scheduled tariff increase, which will raise levies from the current 10%.

“Beijing has said it would retaliate against the U.S. actions.”