TRUMP ORDERS NEW TARIFFS, CHINA HITS BACK WITH $60BN LEVY
HONG KONG/BEIJING: China said it will take retaliatory tariff action against $60 billion of US goods, sharply escalating their trade conflict as the Trump administration considers imposing duties on almost all Chinese imports.
China’s retaliatory tariffs, on items ranging from meat to wheat and textiles, will take effect on September 24, China’s finance ministry said in a statement posted on its website. Beijing is still ready to negotiate an end to the trade tensions with Washington, the ministry said.
Beijing’s plans for tariffs on $60 billion of US goods includes an additional 5% duty on about 1,600 kinds of US products including smaller aircraft, computers and textiles and an extra 10% on more than 3,500 items including chemicals, meat, wheat, wine and LNG.
In a previous announcement from August, those products had faced extra tariffs of up to 25%.
There was no word on whether China would back out of trade talks it said it was invited to by the US, but a Chinese commerce ministry statement said the US increase “brings new uncertainty to the consultations.”
Trump has complained about the US’s gaping trade deficit — $336 billion last year — with China, its biggest trading partner. The trade gap means China will run out of US imports to tax while the US still has plenty of Chinese imports to target. But Beijing has other ways to retaliate. American companies say regulators are already starting to disrupt their operations.
Last week, the American Chambers of Commerce in China and in Shanghai reported 52% of more than 430 companies that responded to a survey said they have faced slower customs clearance and increased inspections and bureaucratic procedures.
“Contrary to views in Washington, China can — and will — dig its heels in and we are not optimistic about the prospect for a resolution in the short term,” said William Zarit, the chamber’s chairman. “No one will emerge victorious from this counter-productive cycle.” AGENCIES