President Trump on March 22 took the first steps toward imposing tariffs on $50 billion in Chinese goods and limiting China’s ability to invest in the U.S. technology industry. Trump said that unfair Chinese trade practices are responsible for the yawning U.S. trade deficit with China, which has reached a record $375 billion on his watch. “There is no way to impose $50 billion in tariffs on Chinese imports without it having a negative impact on American consumers. Years of commercial delegations and diplomatic dialogue saw trade between the two countries mushroom to $635 billion from $116 billion in 2000. Trump administration officials now say that China’s economic policies are distorting global markets for key products such as steel.

Source: Washington Post March 22, 2018 16:19 UTC