President Donald Trump said he’ll announce his response to the latest round of Chinese tariffs Friday afternoon, firing off a series of tweets that blasted the country and signalled mounting frustration with the direction of trade negotiations.
The president laced into China, saying “We don’t need China” and that the U.S. would be “better off without them.” He also took aim at the Fed over what he has called its failure to lower interest rates to boost the economy and keep the dollar from becoming too strong, which weighs on exports. The president’s litany of tweets also followed the release of prepared remarks by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell at the Kansas City Fed’s annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Powell in his speech said the U.S. economy is in a favourable place but faces “significant risks” as growth abroad slows amid trade uncertainty.
The news from Beijing rekindled concerns about the world’s two largest economies and a global growth outlook that’s already looking shaky. After Trump gave the go-ahead earlier this month for tariffs on the nearly $300 billion in Chinese imports that haven’t been hit by higher duties, China halted purchases of agricultural goods and allowed the yuan to weaken.