Energy News  
TRADE WARS
Trump accuses China, EU of currency manipulation
By Douglas Gillison
Washington (AFP) July 20, 2018

Trump threatens tariffs on all $505bn of Chinese imports
Washington (AFP) July 20, 2018 - US President Donald Trump said in an interview released Friday he is willing to hit all Chinese goods imported to the United States with tariffs if necessary.

"I'm ready to go 500," the Republican leader told the US network CNBC, referring to the $505.5 billion in Chinese imports accepted into the United States in 2017.

"I'm not doing this for politics, I'm doing this to do the right thing for our country," Trump said.

"We've been ripped off by China for a long time," he added.

After weeks of apparently fruitless negotiations, the United States early this month imposed 25 percent tariffs on approximately $34 billion of Chinese mechanical and technological products -- sparking an immediate response from Beijing, which said it would hit back dollar for dollar.

China accused the United States of starting the "largest trade war in economic history."

A second tranche of $16 billion in products is under review and could soon be added to the US measures.

In the full interview released Friday Trump reiterated his claim that the United States is "being taken advantage of" on issues including trade policy.

"I don't want them to be scared. I want them to do well," the US president said of China. "I really like President Xi a lot. But it was very unfair."

The US-China spat is the largest and broadest of several trade fights picked by Trump.

The growing share of international trade under threat has raised the prospect the escalating trade war could harm the global economy by disrupting companies supply chains, pushing firms to hold off on investments and making goods more expensive for consumers.

In excerpts of the interview released on Thursday Trump had broken with the long-established executive branch practice of not commenting on the Federal Reserve's decisions out of respect for its independence.

"I'm not thrilled," Trump told the network in an interview excerpt aired Thursday. "Because we go up and every time you go up they want to raise rates again."

President Donald Trump on Friday launched a fresh attack on American trading partners, saying the EU and China were manipulating their currencies, and he threatened to hit all imports from China with high tariffs.

The comments also signaled an undiminished appetite for battle on multiple fronts after a week dominated by coverage of the fallout from his dealings with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The harsh comments took fresh aim at pillars of the international economic system and underscored Trump's break with long-established norms by again openly rebuking the Federal Reserve for raising interest rates.

The outbursts were another crosswind for Wall Street, which struggled to find direction and finished the day a hair's breadth in negative territory.

In a pair of tweets, Trump said China, the European Union and others had been "manipulating their currencies and interest rates lower" while the US dollar strengthened, eroding "our big competitive edge."

He said the Fed's course of tightening monetary policy now "hurts all that we have done."

The Fed has raised the benchmark lending rate twice this year after three increases in 2017 and two more rate hikes are expected this year as the central bank removes stimulus from the economy to keep a lid on inflation.

The chance inflation might accelerate has increased after the massive tax cut Trump championed last year, which has raised the US debt and budget deficit.

He again said he was willing to ramp up his attacks on China, potentially imposing punitive tariffs on all of the $505.6 billion in goods imported from that nation.

"I'm ready to go to 500," Trump said in a CNBC interview that was broadcast Friday. "We've been ripped off by China for a long time."

The White House in June already threatened to extend punishing US duties progressively to up to $450 billion in Chinese imports. Steep tariffs already are in place on $34 billion in Chinese goods, and a second tranche of $16 billion in products is under review and could soon be added.

Washington also is now targeting another $200 billion in imports which see fresh tariffs imposed as soon as September.

Beijing has vowed to hit back dollar-for-dollar and accused the United States of starting the "largest trade war in economic history."

- Escalating trade fight -

In the CNBC interview broadcast Friday, Trump reiterated his claim that the United States is "being taken advantage of" on issues including trade policy.

The US-China spat is the largest and broadest of several trade fights picked by Trump.

The growing share of international trade under threat -- including the tariffs on autos and auto parts now under consideration -- could harm the global economy by disrupting manufacturing supply chains, raising prices and causing firms to hold off on new investments.

In the CNBC interview, Trump also said he was "not happy" the Fed planned to continue raising benchmark lending rates.

"I'm not thrilled," he said. "Because we go up and every time you go up they want to raise rates again."

He likewise also took aim at the dollar, saying a higher value "puts us at a disadvantage" and adding that the Chinese yuan "has been dropping like a rock."

"The US should be allowed to recapture what was lost due to illegal currency manipulation and BAD Trade Deals," Trump said on Twitter.

The comments, plus Trump's criticism of Federal Reserve interest rate hikes, had sent the dollar tumbling against a basket of currencies.

After sliding recently to its lowest levels in a year in April as the Sino-US trade conflict heated up, the yuan strengthened to around 6.77 by the close Friday.

Despite Trump's claim, the yuan has been rising steadily if gradually in recent years, as most economists and officials say Beijing actually has been intervening in currency markets to keep the currency from weakening.

However, analysts said China may be willing to allow further depreciation as the trade war rumbles on.

"The (yuan's) slide against the US dollar will substantially cushion the impact on Chinese exporters from the planned next round of US tariffs," Rajiv Biswas, chief Asia economist with IHS Markit, told AFP

The US dollar, meanwhile, continued its decline against the euro and pound.

"Currency is now part of the trade war folks," said Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at AxiTrader.


Related Links
Global Trade News


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


TRADE WARS
China economic growth slows in second quarter, warns on trade war
Beijing (AFP) July 16, 2018
China said on Monday its economic growth slowed slightly in the second quarter as a trade war with the United States gained pace, while it warned of the global damage that could be caused if the row persists. The world's second-biggest economy expanded 6.7 percent in April-June, down from 6.8 percent in the first quarter and in line with a forecasts in an AFP survey of economists. The data was released just as European Council President Donald Tusk said at an EU summit with China in Beijing that ... read more

Comment using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.



Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

TRADE WARS
Global quadrupling of cooling appliances to 14 billion by 2050

Equinor buys short-term electricity trader

China reviewing low-carbon efforts

Path to zero emissions starts out easy, but gets steep

TRADE WARS
Chemical engineers pack more energy in same space for reliable battery

Scientists uncover mechanism that stabilizes fusion plasmas

Gold nanoparticles to find applications in hydrogen economy

The relationship between charge density waves and superconductivity

TRADE WARS
Searching for wind for the future

Clock starts for Germany's next wind farm

ENGIE: Wind energy footprint firmed up in Norway

Batteries make offshore wind energy debut

TRADE WARS
Solar thermal energy will help China cut costs of climate action

WorleyParsons' Advisian wins major role on world's largest solar power project

Denver takes big step on renewables

How gold nanoparticles could improve solar energy storage

TRADE WARS
Manufacturing operations are ramping up at Framatome Le Creusot site

Utmost Safety Ensured at Bangladesh's Nuke Plant

Can ultrashort electron flashes help harvest nuclear energy?

GE Hitachi Selected by U.S. Department of Energy to Lead Advanced Nuclear Technology Development Project

TRADE WARS
Feeding plants to this algae could fuel your car

Splitting water: Nanoscale imaging yields key insights

Carbon dioxide-to-methanol process improved by catalyst

Finding the right balance for catalysts in the hydrogen evolution reaction

TRADE WARS
Maersk Drilling gets North Sea vote of confidence

BHP Billiton: U.S. onshore exit proceeding as planned

Oil prices fall on rising inventory levels

Libya oil issues remain, but investors remain interested

TRADE WARS
More Americans than ever say climate change is real, human-caused

Europe looking for climate strategies to 2050

Macron rallies sovereign wealth funds against climate change

In a warming world, could air conditioning make things worse?









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.