China Instructed: “Remove tariffs or else!”

CHINA THREATENED - REMOVE TARIFF OR ELSE!: Happy Monday! (Or is it…). As we were preparing updates on the many notable updates on the trade war, President Trump dropped more news on the table and its not great!

Today just before noon, President Trump announced that if China does not withdraw its retaliatory tariff (34% on U.S. Exports) by tomorrow, he will add an ADDITIONAL 50% tariff on Chinese goods. He went on to add that “Additionally, all talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us will be terminated!” This promises to become a real disaster. A tit for tat tradeoff between the two nations is a lose-lose for all citizens. We hope to see calmness prevail

VIETNAM TURNED DOWN: We announced last week that Vietnam has sent delegates to Washington to discuss the tariff arrangement. Vietnam states they were more than willing to reduce all entry tariffs to zero and eliminate any barriers to VN importers. The White House, who refused a face to face opting for a phone call signaled yesterday that no agreements would be modified. U.S. senior trade counselor Peter Nevarro rejected the possibility yesterday and said “This is not a negotiation, this is a national emergency based on a trade deficit that’s gotten out of control because of cheating.” At this time, everyone is curious, what does it take to receive a more favorable agreement with the U.S., if not lowering entry tariffs to zero as President Trump stated in the original announcement.

CAMBODIA PLEAS: Cambodia sent a letter to the White House over the weekend as well. Their position was to reduce the maximum import tariff to 5%, we have not received any word on the status of this discussion. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet signed an order reducing the maximum tariff on 19 U.S. product categories from 35% to 5%. The White House initially signaled it would be looking forward to a meeting with Cambodia leadership in an upcoming visit to Asia. No other information is available at this time.