China, S. Korea slam new US trade tariffs

> Trump administration slaps steep taxes on imports of solar panels and washing machines

SEOUL/BEIJING: China and South Korea yesterday condemned steep import tariffs on washing machines and solar panels imposed by US President Donald Trump, with Seoul set to complain to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over the “excessive” move.

Europe also said it regretted the US decision and would react “firmly and proportionately” if European Union (EU) exports were hit by the tariffs, which Asia fears could be be the start of greater protectionism and stall a revival in global trade.

Trump’s actions on trade during his first year had been less alarming than many outside the US had feared, but Louis Kuijs, head of Asia economics at consultancy Oxford Economics in Hong Kong, said this may now be changing.

Seoul said it planned to take the issue to the WTO while Beijing expressed “strong dissatisfaction”.

South Korean Trade Minister Kim Hyun-Chong said the tariffs were “excessive” and may constitute a “violation of WTO provisions”.

China, the world’s biggest solar panel producer branded the move an “overreaction” and said it would work with other WTO members to protect its interests.

“The US’s decision ... is an abuse of trade remedy measures, and China expresses strong dissatisfaction regarding this,” Wang Hejun, the head of the Commerce Ministry’s Trade Remedy and Investigation Bureau, said in a statement.

The European Commission said it regretted the measures, had serious doubts that they met WTO conditions and would not hesitate to react if they harmed EU exports.

At home in the US, the move was decried by the solar industry, which said the tariffs would create a “crisis” and cost thousands of US jobs and billions in investment without helping domestic suppliers meet rising demand.

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said the tariffs were imposed after an “exhaustive” review by USTR and the independent US International Trade Commission, which determined that US producers were “seriously injured by imports”.

The administration imposed tariffs of up to 50% on imports of large washing machines over three years, and up to 30% on solar panels over four years. – Reuters, AFP