A day after the White House reported constructive talks with China, President Trump expanded the Sino-U.S. trade war on Thursday, saying China wasn’t buying enough U.S. farm exports and Beijing wasn’t moving fast enough in negotiations. The USDA reported the first soybean sale to China since June, a comparatively small 2.45 million bushels, shortly before Trump said he would impose tariffs on an additional $300 billion worth of Chinese products.
Trump said “a small additional tariff of 10 percent” would be levied on the products from Sept. 1 while trade talks continue. With the new duties, virtually all imports from China are affected by trade war tariffs. “We look forward to continuing our positive dialogue with China on a comprehensive Trade Deal, and feel that the future between our two countries will be a bright one!” said the president on social media.
“China agreed to buy agricultural product from the U.S. in large quantities, but did not do so,” wrote Trump in a series of tweets. President Xi Jinping “said that he would stop the sale of Fentanyl to the United States — this never happened.” Speaking to reporters later, Trump said Xi “is not going fast enough” toward a trade agreement.
In Beijing, a Commerce Ministry spokesman said bilateral negotiations must be conducted on the basis of equality and mutual respect, reported the Xinhua news agency. Spokesman Gao Feng called for goodwill in “responding to some U.S. comments imposing pressure on China.” Gao said the two nations would intensify consultations during August to prepare for high-level negotiations in September in Washington.
U.S. farm groups have appealed for the elimination of trade war tariffs and renewed access to a major customer. China used to be the No. 1 market for American farm exports.
“China has a responsibility to follow thru on its commitments on fentanyl+ ag purchases +trade talks. Tariffs aren’t the only solution Pres Trump should use to pressure China, but China isn’t making any friends in Congress w its behavior,” said Senate Finance Committee chairman Chuck Grassley, an Iowa farmer, in a jam-packed tweet.
In its weekly Export Sales report, the USDA listed soybean sales of 66,800 tonnes, or 2.45 million bushels, to China during the week ending on July 25; the report, issued on Thursdays, covers sales in the preceding week. The purchase was more than offset by the cancellation of 72,900 tonnes, or nearly 2.7 million bushels, of sales to China.
Before the trade war, one of every three bushels of U.S.-grown soybeans was sold to China. With a month remaining in the 2018/19 trade year for soybeans, sales to China were at 14.4 million tonnes, half of last year’s total. What’s more, 4.3 million tonnes of this year’s sales are yet to be shipped.
The National Retail Federation said the new U.S. tariffs “will only threaten U.S. jobs and raise costs for American families on everyday goods.” The administration previously set 25 percent tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese products.