Donald Trump “ready to go” on applying tariffs on all Chinese imports | City A.M.

Donald Trump has said he is “ready” to push tariffs on all Chinese goods coming into the US as the President continues his stand off against Beijing.

The US already has tariffs on $34bn-worth of goods coming in from the country, which has received tit-for-tat measures.

But Trump told CNBC he was “ready to go to 500” – referring to the total estimated value of Chinese imports entering the US, which was around $505bn last year.

He told the broadcaster: “I’m not doing this for politics, I’m doing this to do the right thing for our country”, adding: “We have been ripped off by China for a long time.”

European stock markets fell after the interview aired, turning around from the modest intraday gains made earlier in the day.

The FTSE 100 is now down 0.3 per cent at 7,664, having peaked at 7,705 earlier in the day. Stocks including engineers Melrose Industries and Rolls Royce and airlines EasyJet and International Consolidated Airlines were among those hardest hit.

The Europe-wide Stoxx 600 has fallen 0.5 per cent, taking it down 0.7 per cent from its session high.