Donald Trump ‘declares war on Christmas’, as new trade war tariff leaves firms with little room to manoeuvre

The US president plans to impose 10 per cent tariff on US$300 billion of Chinese goods despite having agreed a ‘truce’ with Xi Jinping at the end of June in Japan

Goods targeted for September 1 increase are often given as Christmas gifts, including mobile phones, laptops, toys, and video game consoles

Reading Time:4 minutes

Of the US$300 billion, mobile phones make up the largest portion at US$44.8 billion, followed by laptops at US$38.7 billion, toys at US$11.9 billion, and video game consoles at US$5.4 billion, according to US International Trade Commission figures. Photo: AP

Published: 2:15pm, 2 Aug 2019Updated: 11:58pm, 2 Aug 2019

Exporters in China awoke on Friday to find they now have few ways to avoid US President Donald Trump’s planned 10 per cent tariff on US$300 billion of Chinese goods, leading to the suggestion that he has “declared war on Christmas”.

Trump took to Twitter to announce that almost all remaining Chinese imports to the United States would be subject to the duty from September 1, breaking the short-lived “truce” established after a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Japan at the end of June. There has been no official confirmation of the new tariff.

Many of the goods on the fourth list of trade war tariffs are consumer products often given as Christmas gifts. Of the US$300 billion, mobile phones make up the largest portion at US$44.8 billion, followed by laptops at US$38.7 billion, toys at US$11.9 billion, and video game consoles at US$5.4 billion, according to US International Trade Commission figures.

“This time the list includes toys. So you might say the Trump Administration has now officially declared war on Christmas,” said Jock O’Connell, an international trade adviser to research firm Beacon Economics.

The new tariffs “will impact all manufacturers”, said a manager at Shenzhen-based Tongzhou electronics which makes LED, LCM and LCD modules, who gave his family name as Zhou.