Trump Says 'We'll See' How China Negotiations Go, Tariffs a Great Alternative
President Donald Trump said "we'll see" what develops from trade negotiations that were beginning at 5 p.m. on May 9, but if a deal can't be reached, he said the U.S. can keep tariffs on Chinese exports. "Businesses will pour into the country. It'll be the old-fashioned way, the way we used to do, we made our own product," he said. "Our alternative is an excellent one. It's an alternative I've spoken about for years."
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The negotiations were planned before Trump announced 10 percent tariffs on Chinese goods would go to 25 percent. "The [Chinese] vice premier's coming here today, we were getting very close to a deal, then they started to renegotiate the deal. We can't have that."
So, he said, the U.S. will be taking in $120 billion a year in tariffs, and said people are getting it wrong when they say that's paid by U.S. businesses, not Chinese manufacturers. "We never took in 10 cents from China, not 10 cents," Trump said. In fact, many Chinese products are subject to tariffs, even before AD/CVD cases are considered.