WASHINGTON, Aug 28 — The US Trade Representative’s office today officially reaffirmed President Donald Trump’s plans to add an additional 5 per cent tariff on a US$300 billion list of Chinese imports starting on Sept. 1 and Dec. 15.

USTR said in a Federal Register notice that it would impose a 15 per cent tariffs to a portion of the target goods from Sept. 1, with the remainder, including cell phones and laptop computers, getting a 15 per cent tariff on Dec. 15. The Trump administration had previously set plans to impose a 10 per cent tariff on these imports.

Trump announced the tariff increase last Friday on Twitter in response to Chinese retaliatory tariffs on US$75 billion worth of US goods, including crude oil. — Reuters