Trump 'ready' to intensify trade war with China
Washington, July 20 : US President Donald Trump has said he is ready to intensify his trade war with China by slapping tariffs on all imports worth $500 billion.
"I'm ready to go to 500," he told CNBC's Joe Kernen in a "Squawk Box" interview broadcasted on Friday.
The reference was to the dollar amount of Chinese exports to the US in 2017 -- $505.5 billion to be exact, compared to the $129.9 billion worth of Chinese imports from the US, according to the Census Bureau data.
Last week, Washington listed $200 billion worth of additional Chinese products it intends to place under the tariff regime on as soon as September.
The list named more than 6,000 items including food products, minerals and consumer goods such as handbags, to be subjected to a 10 per cent tariff. It is still under public consultation that will go on till the end of August.
The US and China already imposed tit-for-tat tariffs of $34 billion on each other's goods.
"I'm not doing this for politics, I'm doing this to do the right thing for our country," Trump said. "We have been ripped off by China for a long time."
The President said the US was "being taken advantage of" on a number of fronts, including trade and monetary policy. Yet he said he has not pushed the tariffs out of any ill will towards China.
"I don't want them to be scared. I want them to do well," he said. "I really like President Xi Jinping a lot, but it was very unfair."
Trump also said he was told by unspecified Chinese officials that "nobody would ever complain" from past administrations "until you came along - me. They said, 'Now you're more than complaining. We don't like what you're doing.'"
The US also wants China to stop practices that allegedly encourage transfer of intellectual property -- design and product ideas -- to Chinese companies, such as requirements that foreign firms share ownership with local partners to access the Chinese market.
Trump previously hinted at such an escalation, telling reporters two weeks ago that there was "$300 billion in abeyance" after the $200 billion of goods covered by the latest list, but this is his most explicit threat yet.
Many companies in the US are opposed to the administration's use of tariffs against China, saying they risk hurting business and the economy without being likely to change behaviour.
European stock markets fell after the interview was broadcast, with the FTSE 100 down 0.2 per cent.
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Ruckus outside counting centre in Mamata's constituency, TMC claims entry of car with BJP flag
Kolkata (PTI): The counting centre at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's Bhabanipur assembly constituency witnessed a ruckus a day ahead of the counting of votes, with TMC workers alleging two cars bearing the BJP's flag were allowed entry to the compound where EVMs are kept.
The incident comes close on the heels of a four-hour-long sit-in by Banerjee in front of the same counting centre at the Sakhawat Memorial Girls School on Thursday night, alleging unauthorised entry of persons into the strongroom.
With the polling now over, the wrangling for power in West Bengal has turned into a battle of nerves between the incumbent TMC and the BJP. Workers and leaders of both parties have been keeping a steely gaze on the security of strongrooms across the state where the electoral fate of the candidates is sealed.
Despite expressing her confidence in a "landslide victory", Banerjee has repeatedly aired her apprehensions of "counting malpractice and EVM tampering ahead of the day of results".
On Sunday morning, TMC workers camping 100 metres from the counting centre alleged that two cars with BJP flags entered the premises and went near the strongroom.
"The CAPF personnel at the spot are not allowing any vehicle or person to enter the premises of the counting centre without valid identity proof. Then how come this car, which we have not seen in the past few days, was allowed entry? Once we protested, the central forces asked us to move 100 metres away," a TMC activist said.
The TMC claimed that while the police personnel posted there promised the vehicle would be removed from the spot, it remained there for some time.
A senior Election Commission official said the car was passing by the Harish Mukherjee Road, and after checking by security forces and police, it was allowed to leave as nothing objectionable was found in it.
On Thursday night, two counting centres, including one at Sakhawat Memorial Girls School in the city, witnessed high drama after TMC leaders alleged a lack of transparency and possible malpractice at the strongrooms housing sealed EVMs of the assembly polls, which concluded on April 29.
TMC leaders and candidates, Sashi Panja and Kunal Ghosh, held a sit-in outside the Khudiram Anushilan Kendra counting centre on Thursday evening, alleging unauthorised activities inside the strongroom amid the absence of TMC agents
In Howrah, TMC protested renovation work by the public works department at a place adjacent to the strongroom, and the EC stopped the work temporarily.
On Saturday, the ruling party filed a complaint with the poll panel, alleging unauthorised sorting of postal ballot covers at the EVM strongroom in Khudiram Anushilan Kendra.
Similar scenes were witnessed on Saturday outside the strongrooms at Asansol College in Paschim Bardhaman and the Barasat Government College in North 24 Parganas districts, where TMC workers held protests, alleging that CCTV cameras were switched off for several minutes.
The EC turned down all allegations, saying the surveillance cameras were working in an uninterrupted manner.
BJP spokesperson Sajal Ghosh told reporters that the people of Bengal were finding it "hilarious" that the TMC, "which used to win elections through unfair means and strongarm tactics" were now coming up with all sorts of "frivolous charges".
"Are they scared of losing?" he posed.
