Trump slaps tariffs on imported solar panels and washing machines

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump slapped tariffs on imported solar panels and washing machines, angering trade partners as he took his first major protectionist move a year into his term.

The US will impose new duties of as much as 30% on foreign-made solar equipment, the US Trade Representative’s office said Monday. The president also approved tariffs starting as high as 50% on imported washing machines. China and South Korea condemned the steps, calling them a “misuse” of trade measures.

The tariffs were announced as Trump prepares to travel to Davos for the World Economic Forum, where the international business and political elite are meeting to discuss topics including the backlash against globalisation. The new tariffs will add teeth to the president’s “America First” foreign policy after months of threatening to get tough on what Trump sees as the unfair trade practices of nations including China and South Korea.

“Despite a positive world economic outlook at the outset of 2018, rising trade friction between the US and some of its key trading partners, notably China, is one of the key risks to the global economic outlook,” said Rajiv Biswas, Singapore-based chief Asia-Pacific economist at IHS Markit.

LG Electronics, a maker of domes- tic appliances, and South Korean solar panel makers fell initially in Seoul trading on the news while Samsung Electronics Co, which was little changed, said the tariff on washing machines is a “great loss” for US workers and consumers.

South Korea’s trade minister said yesterday that his nation would file a petition with the World Trade Organisation against the US for imposing anti-dumping duties on Korean washing machine and solar panel makers. The US decision is “excessive,” Kim Hyun-chong said.

China exported more than 21 million washing machines worth just under 19 billion yuan (US$2.9 bil) globally from January through November 2017, according to customs data. The US measures will worsen the global trade environment, and China hopes Washington will show restraint in trade restrictions, according to a commerce ministry’s statement.