Trump To Impose Tariffs On $200 Billion In Chinese Imports, According To ‘Bloomberg’

President Donald Trump is ready to move ahead with a plan to impose tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports, according to six individuals briefed on the matter, Bloomberg reports.

According to Bloomberg’s sources, Trump will impose the levies next week, when the public comment period concludes. Members of the public and businesses have until September 6 to submit comments on the proposed levies, which will reportedly affect “everything from selfie sticks to semiconductors.”

While President Trump reportedly has not made his final decision yet, the tariffs will most probably be imposed, but perhaps in installments. However, Trump could also announce the levies next week but say that they will take effect at a later date, which is what the administration did after announcing tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese goods in June.

As Bloomberg noted, this will be the biggest tranche so far, which means Trump could further escalate the trade war he has been leading with China. Financial markets are unnerved by the decision, and U.S. stocks have already reacted to the news.

Evidently, discussions between U.S. and Chinese officials last week in Washington yielded few results, Bloomberg concluded.

In a quick response to the first set of tariffs imposed by President Trump, China retaliated by imposing a 25 percent tariff on 545 U.S. products. As BBC noted at the time, Russia joined in as well, introducing extra duties on U.S. exports.

In July this year, as Reuters reported, less than a week after Trump called for a second round of tariffs, China filed a complaint against the U.S. to the World Trade Organization.

As Al Jazeera reported, in a series of tweets posted Wednesday, President Trump blamed China for the lack of progress regarding the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. According to the president, China is putting pressure on North Korea, therefore stalling the developments in the denuclearization talks.

“President Donald J. Trump feels strongly that North Korea is under tremendous pressure from China because of our major trade disputes with the Chinese Government. At the same time, we also know that China is providing North Korea with,” an official statement from the White House read.

President Trump often boasts about the alleged effectiveness of his hardline trade policies, but, as the Inquisitr previously reported, expert analysis suggests that there is no indication that the Trump tariffs will provide a long-term benefit for the United States. The tariffs President Trump has imposed have resulted in retaliatory measures from other countries, and the national debt has continued to rise.