Trump moving ahead with China tariffs
“We feel surprised by the tactical statement issued by the White House, and yet it was also unsurprising.” Chinese Ministry of Commerce
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration injected a fresh layer of uncertainty into its trade dispute with China on Tuesday, saying that it would impose tariffs and other punitive measures on Beijing after all, intensifying pressure on both countries as trade talks continue and as a summit between the United States and North Korea looms.
Barely a week after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that the trade war with China was on hold and that tariffs would be suspended as talks continue, the White House said that the United States would move ahead with its plan to impose 25 percent tariffs on $50 billion worth of imported Chinese goods within the next month.
The renewed threat came before a second round of highprofile trade talks that begin this weekend, when Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is scheduled to visit Beijing to try to resolve a dispute that has threatened to tip the world’s two largest economies into a trade war. President Trump, who said last week that he was not happy with the way the first round of talks with China went, has increasingly seized on the threat of tariffs as a cudgel to force concessions from other countries.
For many trading partners, Trump’s approach has produced confusion and uncertainty. Last week, the administration announced a sweeping new investigation that could
result in tariffs on imported automobiles, a move many trade advisers said was designed to increase pressure on Mexico and Canada in negotiations over the North American Free Trade Agreement. On Friday, temporary exemptions to steel and aluminum tariffs that the White House granted to the European Union, Canada and Mexico are set to expire, raising the question of whether the countries will fold to Trump’s trade requests or fight back with retaliation of their own.
Hours after the planned tariffs on China were announced, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce accused the White House of going back on its word, and hinted that Beijing expected such a reversal.
“We feel surprised by the tactical statement issued by the White House, and yet it was also unsurprising,” an unnamed spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said through Xinhua, the official news agency. “This is clearly contrary to the consensus that China and the U.S. reached not long ago in Washington. No matter what measures the U.S. side unveils, China has the confidence, the capacity and the experience to defend the interests of the Chinese people and core national interests. China urges the United States to move toward each other in the spirit of the joint announcement.”
The last round of talks concluded May 19 with the countries issuing a joint announcement that revealed little progress toward resolving a long list of complaints the U.S. negotiators had previously identified. Trump, who made getting tough on China a centerpiece of his presidential campaign, has often talked about challenging what he has described as China’s unfair trade practices. But his advisers are deeply divided over the best course and some, like Mnuchin, have focused on a potential compromise deal that would require China to buy huge amounts of American products while still forestalling the possibility of a trade war.
Other advisers have pushed for tougher action, demanding that China make substantial reforms to its economy to end the subsidies it provides to developing industries and to allow U.S. companies equal access in the Chinese market. Those requests in particular have provoked a backlash from China, which has threatened its own potential set of tariffs on $50 billion in American goods.
On Friday, Trump said he had reached a deal that would allow embattled Chinese telecom firm ZTE to remain in business, raising criticism from Congress that he was backing off from his tougher promises on trade.
The administration’s statement Tuesday suggested that the hardliners were, for now, once again winning the internal trade war.
In April, the administration detailed a list of Chinese goods that would be subject to tariffs, including flat-screen TVs and medical devices. It then held a series of hearings on the tariffs, giving the public a chance to influence the targeted products. On Tuesday, the White House said it would compile the final list of goods that will subject to the tariffs by June 15, and the duties would be imposed shortly after that.
The White House also said the administration would move forward with restrictions on Chinese investment and with stronger export controls meant to limit the access that Chinese people and companies have to U.S. technology — a measure the administration said was for national security purposes.
Those restrictions will be announced by June 30 and adopted soon after that, the administration said, adding that the United States would also continue to pursue a trade case it has filed against China at the World Trade Organization involving intellectual property rights.
Trade talks between the two countries will continue, the statement said, and the United States has asked Beijing to remove “all of its many trade barriers” that prevent U.S. companies from doing business in China, and has also said that “tariffs and taxes between the two countries be reciprocal in nature and value.”