US President Donald Trump is considering reducing tariffs on some Chinese imports to a level of 50 per cent to 65 per cent, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, an announcement that helped lift US equities markets.
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Such cuts would substantially reduce the tariffs that Trump set at 145 per cent earlier this month, part of the White House’s recalibrations of trade strategy that have roiled global markets for weeks, a senior White House official told the Journal.
Stocks rallied on the report as well as on Trump’s backing away from reported threats to fire Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. At noon, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 index were both up more than 1 per cent, while the Nasdaq climbed more than 2.5 per cent.
According to the Journal, while no final decisions have been made, several options are under review – including a tiered system that would distinguish between strategic and non-strategic goods.
One proposal mirrors a framework suggested by the House Select Committee on China last year, imposing 35 per cent tariffs on imports deemed not to threaten the US national security; strategic goods would face at least 100 per cent, the report said.
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The tiered structure could be phased in over five years, the Journal added.
On Tuesday, Trump told reporters that US tariffs on Chinese imports would be reduced, saying that the duties “will not be as high as 145 per cent” and that “it’ll come down substantially, but won’t be zero”.
