Carlos Barria/Reuters
President Donald Trump on Thursday announced he has instructed U.S. trade officials to “consider” slapping China with $100 billion in additional tariffs, saying Beijing “has repeatedly engaged in practices to unfairly obtain America’s intellectual property.” Earlier this week, the Trump administration proposed $50 billion in new tariffs on Chinese goods. In retaliation, China announced new tariffs on 106 U.S. products, meant to roughly match that sum. “In light of China’s unfair retaliation, I have instructed the USTR to consider whether $100 billion of additional tariffs would be appropriate under Section 301 and, if so, to identify the products upon which to impose such tariffs,” Trump said in a statement Thursday evening. “I have also instructed the secretary of agriculture, with the support of other members of my Cabinet, to use his broad authority to implement a plan to protect our farmers and agricultural interests.” After the announcement, Dow Jones Industrials futures plummeted, with the market expected to open 400 points down.