Auto industry could get exemptions from tariffs, Trump says
President Donald Trump said he’s considering temporary tariff exemptions for automakers amid attempts to move manufacturing back to the U.S.
Amid a tense trade war with China, a White House statement that some Chinese goods face 245% tariffs generated confusion in Beijing.
Was it another escalation? No. Trump’s new tariffs on China still stand at 145%.
But the White House quickly tried to clear things up, saying the 245% figure that they put into the April 15 document – outlining the context for a new executive order from President Donald Trump – represents all previous and new tariffs on some Chinese goods dating to the Biden and first Trump administrations.
Asked for comment on the data from the White House, a Chinese official responded on April 16 that it was up to U.S. officials to provide answers on how they got to 245%.
“You can take this number to the U.S. side for an answer,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said during a news conference, according to Chinese state media.
The U.S. already imposed large tariffs on some Chinese products of up to 100% before Trump started announcing new tariffs this year. Add the existing levies to the 145% in new tariffs Trump put on Chinese goods and some are facing 245% tariffs, the White House says.
Electric vehicles and syringes are two products that already faced 100% tariffs from the Biden administration – before Trump started putting new tariffs on Chinese goods this year – and which now are on the receiving end of the 245% tariffs, the Trump White House said. The U.S. had already levied tariffs between 7.5% and 100% on some Chinese goods before Trump took office this year.
Trump imposed a series of new tariffs on Chinese goods this year that now stand at 125%, and a 20% tariff aimed at pushing the country to crackdown on fentanyl.
Trump said on April 15 that it’s up to China to strike a deal to end the trade war.
“The ball is in China’s court. China needs to make a deal with us. We don’t have to make a deal with them,” Trump said in comments relayed by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
The Chinese Embassy in the United States did not immediately respond to a request for comment.