March 23, 2018
Earlier this month President Trump’s administration levied tariffs on steel and aluminum in the name of national security. Yesterday, President Trump took another step and took aim at China’s seizure of United States intellectual property by imposing new tariffs would affect $50 to $60 billion of Chinese imports.
In retaliation, China announced their own tariffs this morning on $3 billion of US imports. These tariffs include wine, fruit, nuts, steel pipes and pork to name a few. In terms of the total US-China relationship this is not a lot—last year China imported $130 billion worth of goods from the United States. However, the door is open for further sanctions if tensions continue to rise.
The tariffs issued by the United States will not take immediate effect. Our trade representative will create a list of targeted good within two weeks and then a 30-day comment period will be allowed.
Wall Street and international markets have had mixed feelings about how these tariffs could affect financial markets and the stability of global trade. These tariffs have the potential to rebalance trade between the United States and all of its trading partners—the uncertainty of how this will shake out has created volatility in the markets. As investors, we have to stay focused on our long-term objectives and not jeopardize those goals because of short-term volatility.
Ethan Wade
Vice President - Financial Advisor
Email: ewade@brightonsecurities.com
Direct: 585.340.2227