Effective 8/22/18 The US imposed an additional 25% tariff on $16 Billion of Chinese goods, and China retaliated.

Today, 9/7/18, the public comment period has ended, and the US Trade Representative is preparing a final draft of an order to impose 10% or 25% additional tariffs on another $200 Billion of imports from China. At least 350 US companies pleaded for exemption... it remains to be seen which companies will be let off the hook by the USTR. A common thread of the appeals is that each US company will be forced to increase their selling prices, they will lose market share, and they will be forced to lay off employees. In the short run, the companies point out that they have no alternative source of supply other than China.

China warned repeatedly that as soon as new tariffs are imposed, they will retaliate against the United States.

Donald Trump told reporters today that "soon" new tariffs on "$267 Billion" are "set to go". It may be that he was shooting from the hip, or mischaracterizing the pending $200 Billion as a next round of escalation on a further $267 Billion.

But 16 + 200 + 267 = 483. Does Donald Trump seriously intend to impose new tariffs on $483 Billion of goods imported from China? In 2017 the entirety of US imports from China amounted to $505.47 Billion, according to the US Census Bureau. So this escalation would impose tariffs on about 95% of the goods imported from China.

There is confusion as to whether Trump is threatening 10% or 25%. The cost of a tariff (ultimately a hidden tax paid by the consumer) on $483 Billion would be $48.3 Billion, assuming the tariff rate is 10%. But the cost of a 25% tariff would be $120.75 Billion, or about $1,000 per American household. (Rough figures, assuming 120 million American households.)