WASHINGTON — President Trump escalated his trade war with China on Thursday, saying that the United States would impose a 10 percent tariff on another $300 billion worth of Chinese imports after China failed to keep its promise to buy more American agricultural products.
Mr. Trump, who had agreed in June not to impose more tariffs while the two sides try to reach a trade deal, said on Twitter that the new tariffs would go into effect on Sept. 1. Those new levies would be in addition to the 25 percent tariff that has already been imposed on $250 billion of imports and would essentially tax all Chinese products sent into the United States.
“We thought we had a deal with China three months ago, but sadly, China decided to renegotiate the deal prior to signing,” Mr. Trump said. “More recently, China agreed to buy agricultural product from the U.S. in large quantities, but did not do so.”
The president said that China also did not fulfill its commitment to stop the sale of Fentanyl into the United States.
Despite the additional tariffs, Mr. Tump said that the trade talks between the United States and China in Shanghai this week were “constructive” and that he looks forward to continuing more “positive dialogue” between the countries.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.