The Trump administration's proposal to impose 25 percent of tariffs on imports from China is estimated to hurt U.S. economic growth and cost thousands of American jobs, a study showed.
The U.S. tariffs and follow-on retaliation by China would reduce U.S. output by nearly 3 billion U.S. dollars and nearly 134,000 workers would lose jobs, most of whom are less-skilled workers, according to the study jointly released by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) on Tuesday.
It estimated that American farmers will see their net incomes drop 6.7 percent due to these tariffs, and jobs in the sector would fall by over 67,000. Tariffs will also cause 11,000 job loses in manufacturing sector, the study found.
The Trump administration in April proposed to levy 25 percent of tariffs on 50 billion U.S. dollars of Chinese imports, claiming China has "unfair" trade practices against the United States.
In response to the tariffs threats from Washington, China also laid out 50 billion dollars of imports from the United States which will be subject to additional tariffs.
Following China's announcement, the White House threatened to impose tariffs on additional 100 billion dollars of Chinese goods.
The study warns that imposing tariffs on an additional 100 billion dollars of Chinese imports would come at a significant cost to the U.S. economy, destroying 455,000 jobs and reducing GDP by 49 billion dollars.
American farmers would see their loss more than doubled in the additional tariffs scenario. Their income would drop by 15 percent, and jobs in the sector would decline by 181,000.
The tariffs will hurt every state, including those in the so-called "Rust Belt". California, Texas, Florida, Washington, New York, Georgia, Missouri, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Ohio will suffer the highest job losses, the study showed.
"Tariffs could wash away the benefits recent tax reform will have on the economy, bringing uncertainty to American businesses and devastation to some workers in key states - they might lose their jobs over a trade tax," CTA President and CEO Gary Shapiro said in a statement on Tuesday.
Business community is expecting the Trump administration's delegation to China this week would ease trade tensions between the two countries.
"We hope this is the start of a serious negotiation process that leads to a more open Chinese market and protects U.S. jobs and economic growth," said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay in the same statement.
"We must resolve this trade dispute without resorting to job-killing tariffs and retaliation," he added.
