US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said on Sunday that President Donald Trump intends to implement $60 billion in tariffs on Chinese imports, adding that the Washington is “not afraid” of a trade war with Beijing.
Unless a deal is reached with China, Trump will implement the tariffs targeting sectors in which Washington says Beijing has stolen American technology, Mnuchin said in an interview with Fox News.
The head of the US Treasury Department repeated Trump's assertion that "we are not afraid of the trade war."
"I'm cautiously hopeful we reach an agreement, but if not we are proceeding with these tariffs. We are not putting them on hold unless we have an acceptable agreement that the president signs off on," Mnuchin said.
China threatened the US on Friday with tariffs on $3 billion worth of American goods in response to Trump's new trade measures.
Trump on Thursday hit China with tariffs on up to $60 billion of imports to retaliate against the "theft" of American intellectual property, ratcheting up trade tensions between the world's two largest economies.
Saying it would be the "first of many" trade actions, Trump signed the order that also could result in restrictions on Chinese investment in the US.
The move sent stocks diving amid rising market fears that WAshington could provoke a trade war with Beijing.
Trump has repeatedly blamed unfair trade deals and abusive practices by low-wage countries like China and Mexico for the massive US trade deficit and the loss of high-paying US factory jobs.
