By David Lawder and Andrea Shalal
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump will speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday, his top trade adviser Peter Navarro told a Politico Live event, as new 10% tariffs on Chinese imports took effect, spurring retaliatory tariffs announced by Beijing.
Asked how U.S. consumers and companies should understand the China tariffs, Navarro told Politico: “Let’s see what happens with the call today.”
China imposed targeted tariffs on U.S. imports on Tuesday and put several companies, including Google, on notice for possible sanctions, in a measured response to Trump’s across-the-board 10% duties, which come on top of prior tariffs.
Asked if the Trump-Xi call could lead to a reprieve for Beijing similar to the month-long delay for imposition of 25% tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods, Navarro said: “It’s up to the boss. I never get ahead of the boss,” referring to Trump.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt earlier gave no updates on the Trump-Xi call, but said it would happen “soon.”
Regarding Trump’s campaign pledge to impose tariffs of 60% on Chinese goods, Navarro said that U.S. Trade Representative nominee Jamieson Greer would “recalibrate” the existing Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports that Trump imposed during his first term.
The review, which was ordered by Trump’s inauguration day trade memo, would look at whether China had met the terms of the “Phase 1” trade deal to end a 2018-2019 tariff war between the world’s two largest economies, examine China’s intellectual property practices and whether it is manipulating its currency lower against the dollar for a trade advantage.
“This is going to be done in a measured way, and it’s going to be done in a way that will benefit the American people,” Navarro said. “And we’re not going to get headlines speculating about what the President may or may not do. We’re going to let him do his thing, because by now, it’s trust in Trump.”
Navarro downplayed the impact of the tariffs – and uncertainty about trade policy – on U.S. consumers and businesses, saying the actions being taken would be driven by clear data on issues such as the number of Americans dying of fentanyl-related overdoses, immigration flows and trade imbalances.
He emphasized the priority for the initial round of tariffs was securing the U.S. border and halting the flow of fentanyl and said there have been “immediate results from Mexico and Canada,” Navarro said.
He said Mexico earned the 30-day extension for the tariffs by pledging increased action, but that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also “came to understand that this is a drug war, not a trade war.”
(Reporting by David Lawder and Andrea Shalal; editing by Deepa Babington)
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