Trade war: US tariffs take effect, China retaliates with similar levy
Washington, Beijing each impose duties on $34 billion of products in titfortat exchange
BEIJING: A trade war between the world’s two largest economies, the US and China, is on after three rounds of talks to resolve the deadlock.
First shots of the newly-imposed tit-for-tat duties were fired after an additional 25% US tariffs on $34 billion worth of Chinese goods came into effect on Friday.
China has retaliated by imposing similar tariffs worth $34 billion on several hundreds of US products.
China said the US has ignited the largest trade war in economic history.
“China will not fire its first shot, but is inevitably forced to strike back to defend the core interest of the nation and its people,” a statement from the ministry of commerce said.
“We will report to the World Trade Organisation on a timely basis,” the statement added.
Earlier this year, Washington imposed tariffs on Chinese goods worth $50 billion apparently with an eye to reduce trade deficit with China.
The Trump administration has reiterated – despite the fear of losing jobs in the US—that trade with China hasn’t been fair and it needs to be corrected. China doesn’t see it that way. “With the 25% additional tariffs on Chinese products worth $34 billion effective on Friday, the United States has ignited the largest trade war in economic history,” said a ministry of commerce (MOC) spokesperson in the statement.
“These tariffs violate the WTO rules and represents a typical “trade bully”, posing a grave threat to the security of global industry and value
chains,” official news agency,
Xinhua reported. “Moreover, it will hamper global economic recovery and trigger global market turmoil while dealing a blow to many multinationals, enterprises and ordinary consumers,” it added.
“Despite opposition from Chinese and US businesses, the White House has decided to proceed with levying punitive tariffs on imports from China beginning on Friday. Such a protectionist tool will directly impact enterprises worldwide, including those of the US, and does not jibe with international rules on resolving trade problems. Washington is sowing the seeds of its own defeat in the end,” the official news agency, Xinhua said in a commentary.
“US President Donald Trump believes that America’s trade deficit provides ironclad evidence illustrating how China has been “robbing” the US for years. However, surpluses and deficits are by no means the right barometer to gauge trade ties between any two countries,” it added.
“Why does the administration of Donald Trump engage in a trade confrontation with China? So far, there is no complete explanation. Some believe he wants more votes. Others think he really wants to address the US trade deficit issue with China. Some contend that containing China’s technological progress is his real purpose and that is why the list of tariffs targets Chinese industries such as aerospace, telecoms and artificial intelligence,” the nationalistic tabloid Global Times wrote in an editorial.