Trump's China tariffs won't be as high as 60%, new poll of economists says

Beijing, China - President-elect Donald Trump's proposed China tariffs could have a big impact on the country's economic growth, but most economists don't think he will impose the 60% headline figure of his campaign.

President-elect Trump's China sanctions may have a huge impact on economic growth.
President-elect Trump's China sanctions may have a huge impact on economic growth.  © Collage: AFP/Brandon Bell & Unsplash/Ran Liwen

A majority of the 50 economists polled by Reuters don't believe Trump will carry out his threat of imposing a blanket 60% tariff, but the median guess is still as high as 38%.

That would be enough to cut almost 1% of growth in the world's biggest economy.

Raymond Yeung, chief economist at Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), told Reuters that he expected Trump to return to the tariff plan of his first term.

Taiwan says Chinese sea deployment bigger than post-Pelosi 2022 military drills
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Beijing waited until the outcome of 2024's presidential election was clear before making final changes to an economic stimulus package that it's expected to reveal within weeks.

Trump's victory could mean a 10-20% increase in the package compared to the alternative prepared for a win for Democratic candidate Kamala Harris.

Weijian Shan, co-founder and executive chairman at PAG, told Bloomberg earlier in November that he believes an escalation in the US-China trade war will not achieve its goals.

"The truth of the matter is that the trade war has not achieved its stated purposes of reducing the US trade deficit or stifling China's economic growth," he said during an interview on the sidelines of the Barclays Asia Summit on November 14.

"China's exports to the United States as a percentage of American imports have declined... However, China's share of global trade has increased."

Cover photo: Collage: AFP/Brandon Bell & Unsplash/Ran Liwen

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