‘China has prepared for the worst’
New tariffs push Beijing to blink or widen trade war
DANDONG, China — President Donald Trump’s latest threat of tariffs against China, on imports totaling roughly $200 billion, substantially raises the stakes for Beijing and could push the two countries’ trade war beyond the tit-for-tat duties seen so far.
China’s Commerce Ministry said Wednesday that the nation would act with “necessary counter-measures,” but did not say that the government would retaliate in commensurate fashion, as it has promptly done in the past. The pause reflects the quandary facing Beijing.
The new U.S. proposed levies would be on top of 25 percent tariffs the Trump administration has assessed on $50 billion of Chinese goods, $34 billion of which took effect last Friday. On that day, China fired back with tariffs of the same amount.
But Beijing cannot match the new proposed tariffs because China imported only about $130 billion of products from the U.S. last year.
By comparison, the United States imported more than $500 billion of
Chinese goods last year.
Lu Xiang, a Beijingbased researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, noted that China has previously indicated that it would retaliate in “quality and quantity,” suggesting that Beijing could employ measures beyond tariffs that would hurt American businesses in China, such as tougher inspections on imports and delaying licensing and approvals for mergers.
“Chinese counter-measures are more than tariffs; it is hard to guess” what they are, Lu said. “China has prepared for the worst.”
U.S. companies in China already have reported stalled product approvals, worker visas and licensing applications.
A manufacturer that exports vehicles to China recorded a 98 percent jump in random border inspections in recent weeks that put the company behind schedule.
And Chinese customs officers ordered a load of U.S. cherries into quarantine for a week in a coastal southeast China province, causing them to spoil.
Robert Lighthizer, the U.S. trade representative, said Tuesday night in announcing the new round of proposed tariffs that the U.S. expects China to stop unfair practices and open its markets to competition.
“Unfortunately, China has not changed its behavior — behavior that puts the future of the U.S. economy at risk,” he said. “Rather than address our legitimate concerns, China has begun to retaliate against U.S. products.”
The Trump administration’s latest move drew opposition from business groups and some Republicans concerned the tariffs could be a blow to U.S. consumers and damage the economy.
Unlike the 25 percent tariffs already in place, the new levies proposed by the U.S. would be at a lower 10 percent rate but would hit many household products, such as electronics, appliances, furniture, some apparel and footwear.
A nearly 200-page list issued by the U.S. trade representative’s office include a variety of specific goods: fish sticks, baseball gloves, handbags, spark plugs, French doors, yarn and ceramic tiles.
The list will be the subject of public hearings Aug. 20-23 before a decision is made on enacting the tariffs.
The targeting of consumer goods sparked immediate fire from the National Retail Federation, which called the Trump administration plan “a reckless strategy that will boomerang back to harm U.S. families and workers.”
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, also said the new tariff threat “appears reckless” and warned it “falls short of a strategy that will give the administration negotiating leverage with China.”
In a sign of bipartisan trade frustration, the Senate voted 88-11 Wednesday for a nonbinding resolution that calls on the White House to seek congressional approval before issuing tariffs in the interest of national security.
The Trump administration used national security as a reason to put tariffs on steel and aluminum from Canada, Mexico and the European Union this spring.