Trump to impose tariffs on $200 bn in Chinese goods
Washington, Sep 18 : US President Donald Trump's administration will impose a 10 per cent tariff later this month on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods, increasing to 25 per cent at the end of the year, a move that will sharply escalate the American trade war with Beijing.
The administration announced on Monday that the additional tariffs which will take effect from September 24, are on top of penalties enacted earlier this year on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods, CNN reported.
Taken together, it means roughly half of the products that China sells to the US each year will be hit by American tariffs.
In July, the administration published a list of thousands of products that would be subject to the latest round of trade penalties. More than 300 products were removed from that list -- including smartwatches, health and safety devices and children's playpens.
Trump had urged his advisers to press forward with the $200 billion round, even as Washington and Beijing worked to restart trade talks.
The President's decision threatens to upend the possibility of a diplomatic breakthrough with Chinese negotiators.
"China has had many opportunities to fully address our concerns," Trump said in a statement released Monday evening by the White House.
"Once again, I urge China's leaders to take swift action to end their country's unfair trade practices."
Trump also threatened to inflict more economic pain in the form of additional tariffs if Beijing takes any retaliatory action. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had invited the negotiators to Washington this week to resume talks.
But China said it would turn down the offer if the US went ahead with more tariffs, CNN said.
Earlier Monday, Trump previewed the announcement at the White House: "It will be a lot of money coming into the coffers of the US. A lot of money coming in."
The President said he was confident an agreement could eventually be reached with China, but stressed such an accord must do right by American workers.
"They want to make a deal," Trump said. "But from our standpoint, it has to be fair. It has to take care of our workers." The tariffs are meant to punish China for alleged unfair trade practices, including intellectual property theft.
China has accused the US of trade bullying and, to this point, has responded dollar-for-dollar with tariffs of its own.
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Karnataka plans 100-acre aqua park to boost fishing sector
Bengaluru: Karnataka is planning to set up a 100-acre integrated aqua park aimed at promoting fishing. The proposed park will offer end-to-end facilities, including fish farming, storage facilities and sports fishing.
According to a report published by Deccan Herald on Sunday, a senior official from the Karnataka Fisheries Department said the aqua park is part of a concept introduced by the Union Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying. The idea is to develop hubs that support the entire fishing value chain from fish seed production and feed to processing and market access.
According to the plan, the aqua park will include nine major facilities like farming of fish food, generating of fish seeds, development of fish seeds, fish farming, cold processing units, development of ornamental fish for aquariums, well-equipped market, fish transport facilities, and sports fishing.
The fisheries department has shortlisted three locations for the project, Byndoor in Udupi, Malavalli in Mandya and Almatti in Bijapur. One of these locations will be finalised based on land availability, after which a Detailed Project Report (DPR) will be prepared and sent to the Union government for approval.
“We have received proposals for three locations. All of them have water bodies close by and hence there is a demand for fishing. However, space is the main criteria. If we are able to get 100 acres, we will go ahead and prepare a detailed project report (DPR) to be submitted to the central ministry,” DH quoted Dinesh Kumar Kaller, director, Karnataka fisheries department as saying.
At Malavalli, near Gaganachukki, around 75 acres of land has been identified and a request has been sent to the Revenue Department. The revenue department has said that the land belongs to the forest department and talks are on. We are also looking at other locations, Kaller reportedly said.
As per the report, at present, only 11 states have an aqua park approved under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) and Karnataka is confident that its proposal would also be accepted soon.
