US President Donald Trump is mulling fresh tariffs on billions of dollars in Chinese imports, aiming in particular at the tech and telecommunications sector, according to media reports. The White House is currently eyeing a hundred different Chinese products, a person with knowledge of internal discussions told AFP, stressing that the dollar value had not been settled on.
Trade war fears sent US stocks diving on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down more than 300 points, or 1.3 percent, shortly after 1600 GMT. Lawmakers and industry representatives say fresh restrictions will invite retaliation that could see US exporters suffer.
At a meeting last week, Trump told Cabinet members and aides that he wanted to hit China hard over its alleged theft of American intellectual property, according to Politico, which cited three people with knowledge of the matter. US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer proposed a package of $30 billion in tariffs but Trump instructed Lighthizer to go higher, Politico reported.