GOVERNMENTS/ASSOCIATIONS/FASTENER GROUPS 

The tension in trade between China and USA seems to be mounting again on May 10th. U.S. President Trump tweeted on May 5th that the punitive additional tariff against Chinese goods worth of US$ 200 billion will increase from the initial 10% to 25% this Friday (May/10) and he is also considering imposing the additional 25% tariff against other Chinese goods worth of US$ 325 billion currently not included on the list. According to Trump, although the negotiation with China is still in progress, but it goes too slow and he would like to say “no” to China’s intention to make the negotiation start over.     

Chief representative for the negotiation from China and Vice Premier of PRC’s State Council Liu He will arrive in Washington D.C. on May 8th to negotiate with U.S. chief trade representative Robert Lighthizer. Some overseas media conjectured that Trump’s abrupt decision to increase the tariff may be a strategy to exert more pressure to China and force it to offer more favorable conditions. Some analysts also think that the negotiation this week is very likely to be the last round of negotiation pertaining to the “trade war” between China and USA, so what results could be finally achieved during the negotiation will be really critical.