Assn. of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) President Dennis Slater issued the following statement opposing the continued escalation of trade tensions with China as a result of the Trump administration’s plan to move forward with $200 billion in tariffs on Chinese goods:

"This extreme use of tariffs hurts our nation’s access to global markets and threatens many of the 1.3 million good-paying equipment manufacturing jobs our industry supports. To make matters worse, U.S. farmers are losing out at a time when their incomes are on the decline. It’s clear everyone loses in a trade war. This administration should be looking for ways to improve our trade relationship with China, not doubling down on tactics that only lead to continued retaliatory actions."

Trade and trade policy will be the focus as AEM co-hosts its third I Make America Town Hall Tour stop from Terex AWP's Genie Showroom, in Redmond, Washington, thisThursday, September 20, from 11 am - 12 pm CT. The town hall will be livestreamed and feature an expert panel discussing how tariffs and similar trade policy tactics impact the equipment manufacturing industry.

AEM co-signed a letter with dozens of other manufacturing groups and associations that was sent last week to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer urging the Trump Administration not to move forward with this latest round of tariffs.

Combining the announced $200 billion in additional tariffs on Chinese goods with the $50 billion already in place, would make up for about half of the dollar amount in goods imported to the U.S. from China just last year. Leaders of equipment manufacturing companies have spoken out in response to the Trump administration’s trade policies throughout 2018.

To date $50 billion in tariffs on Chinese goods have already been put into effect by the Trump administration, including $34 billion worth of goods that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection started to collect duties in July, as outlined in a published list made available by the federal register. Then in August another $16 billion worth of tariffs on Chinese goods went into effect after a public notice and comment process, including a public hearing.

China has already retaliated by imposing $34 billion of tariffs on U.S. goods, including agricultural commodities with numerous agricultural goods – at a time when farmers and ranchers are struggling due to a slump in income.