So much for the trade war deal.
As we near the December 15 deadline on 15% tariffs on Chinese goods, it seems there’s no deal in sight. All after President Trump said it may be better to wait until after the 2020 presidential election to strike a trade deal. “I have no deadline,” he said, as quoted by CNN. “In some ways I think it’s better to wait for after the election, if you want to know the truth.”
While Trump did say progress was being made on an agreement, he also noted it was up to him to decide whether to make the deal, as noted by the South China Morning Post. “It’s not if they want to make it, it’s if I want to make it, and we’ll see what happens. I don’t know that I want to make it, but we’re going to find out pretty soon, we’ll surprise everybody.”
This isn’t the Only Trade War Battle
Just yesterday, Trump brought back tariffs on Brazilian and Argentinian steel.
“Brazil and Argentina have been presiding over a massive devaluation of their currencies. which is not good for our farmers. Therefore, effective immediately, I will restore the Tariffs on all Steel & Aluminum that is shipped into the U.S. from those countries,” quoted by MarketWatch.
This comes just months after the two countries received waivers exempting them from the 25% steel and 10% aluminum tariffs introduced in 2018.
Trump is also threatening France with 100% tariffs on $2.4 billion worth of goods including cheese, cosmetics, and champagne, in retaliation for a new digital services tax. Reportedly, a French tax of 3% is being applied to revenues of big tech companies based in the U.S.
France then threatened that the European Union would be ready to retaliate.
