Escalating trade war with China could affect Minnesotans

(KMSP) - President Trump is stepping up his trade war, announcing a new series of tariffs on Chinese imports.
Those measures could have a big effect on all Minnesotans.

The trade war between the U.S. and China is reaching a boiling point.

After imposing tariffs on an additional $200 billion in Chinese goods, the Chinese government is retaliating against the Trump administration, with tariffs on $60 billion of U.S. imports.

On Tuesday, President Trump issued a warning.

“If there’s a retaliation against our farmers and our industrial workers our ranchers. If any of that goes on, we’re going to kick in another $257 billion dollars,” the president said. 

The trade war between both sides has been escalating for months and the latest round of tariffs means that about half of all Chinese imports to the U.S. will be subject to increased costs.

More than 5,000 U.S. goods could be affected, including meat, clothes, machinery and electronics.

David Schultz, a Hamline University Politics and Economics professor, said that higher costs over time could leave many businesses and consumers feeling the pinch.

“I just think longer term, consumers and businesses will feel the pain of an extra $200 billion more so than we would see consumers in China feeling it,” David said. “One of the biggest drivers of our economy is consumer spending. In fact, that’s the single biggest driver. If consumers start to cut back now, if businesses start to say the cost of materials is too much and they slow down production, we start to create a cycle that gets worse and worse.”

The latest set of U.S. tariffs will go into effect on Monday. It's unclear how much the Chinese economy will be impacted, but U.S. officials hope that this renewed pressure will force China to change its policies.