United States President Donald Trump is escalating the nation's trade war with China, preparing tariffs on a further $200 billion worth of Chinese imports as the Office of the US Trade Representative proposes 10 percent tariffs across 6,031 Chinese product lines.
The office is accepting public submissions on the proposal, with hearings to be held between August 20 and August 23, after which a final decision will be made post-August 31, a senior administration official said.
Trump has warned that he could tax up to $550 billion in Chinese products, exceeding the US' total imports from China during 2017.
Republican Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch called the announcement on Tuesday "reckless" and untargeted.
"We cannot turn a blind eye to China's mercantilist trade practices, but this action falls short of a strategy that will give the administration negotiating leverage with China while maintaining the long-term health and prosperity of the American economy," Hatch argued.
Trump last week similarly confirmed that punitive tariffs would be slapped on Chinese imports worth $34 billion[1], with China preparing retaliatory duties of 25 percent on the same amount of US products.
"You have another 16 in two weeks, and then as you know we have 200 billion in abeyance and then after the 200 billion we have 300 billion in abeyance," Trump said last week, referring to a previous threat that if China retaliates, Washington would raise duties on an additional $200 billion worth of Chinese goods -- roughly half of China's exports to the US.
According to research by Singapore's DBS Bank, an all-out trade war could shave off 0.25 percent of the GDP of both economies this year, with more damage expected in 2019.
Trump had started his trade war with