The White House on Wednesday filed formal notice of President Trump’s increase to tariffs on Chinese imports amid a breakdown in trade negotiations.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) submitted an order raising tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports after Trump announced the increase Sunday morning.
Trump said in a pair of tweets Sunday that he would raise tariffs on a wide variety of Chinese imports from 10 percent to 25 percent. USTR’s notice to formalize those increases will be published in the Federal Register on Thursday and take effect Friday morning at 12:01 a.m.
The filing comes after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer confirmed the pending tariff increase Monday, blaming China for backing away from previous agreements with the administration.
China’s Commerce Ministry reportedly said Wednesday that it will respond “in kind” if Trump follows through on the tariff hikes.