Proposed 7.5% tariff described as targeting underpriced Chinese goods
President Donald Trump is moving toward a new tariff on China, with administration officials considering a 7.5% rate that, according to three people familiar with the matter, would target what officials describe as underpriced Chinese goods flooding global markets. Two of those people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations still being finalized, said the proposed level is one administration officials believe would not endanger the one-year trade truce between Washington and Beijing. The same sources said a planned White House meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to take place in late September.
The proposed tariff appears to be a calibrated effort by the White House to work around a Supreme Court decision earlier this year that struck down Trump’s plan to implement a sweeping, high-tariff scheme not seen since the 1930s, according to the people familiar with the matter.