The United States Trade Organisation (USTO) has confirmed that an additional duty of 5 per cent will be imposed on products from China—on top of an original figure of 10 percent—would be implemented starting Sept. 1, 2019. China had planned to implement 5 to 10 per cent tariffs on $75 billion goods imported from the United States in two segments. The US tariffs on goods from China remain scheduled to begin Sept. 1 and an additional round scheduled to be implemented Dec. 15.

Additionally, the Trump administration demanded that existing 25 per cent tariffs on approximately $250 billion of imports from China be increased by 5 percent to 30 percent beginning Oct. 1. While the new tariffs will be administered in two groups, or tranches, most of the affected apparel and textile goods will be included on the first list. The Sept. 1 list of goods includes 92 percent of the apparel, 53 percent of the footwear and 68 percent of the home textiles from China.