U.S. details Chinese goods destined for new 25% tariffs

Move could disrupt electronics supplies, up consumer costs.

The Trump administration Tuesday unveiled its list of roughly $50 billion in Chinese electronics, aerospace and machinery products it plans to hit with steep tariffs, the latest move in a deepening U.S.-China trade conflict.

The 25-percent import taxes are designed to penalize China for discriminatory policies that the United States says puts its companies at a disadvantage in the Chinese market. President Donald Trump has complained that the Chinese government forces U.S. companies to surrender their proprietary technology in return for access to the Chinese market and engages in cyber-theft to acquire other American trade secrets.

Trump’s latest protectionist move threatens to upend global supply chains for corporations such as Apple and Dell, raise prices for American consumers who have grown accustomed to inexpensive products and aggravate tensions between the world’s two largest economies. “The pain will be very visible and the potential gains will be very abstract. The administration hasn’t prepared the U.S. for the downsides of a trade war,” said Brad Setser, a former White House economist in the Obama administration.

With just seven months before congressional elections, that could pose a political challenge for the president, who promised his supporters he would overhaul U.S. trade policy to benefit American workers.

Voters disapproved of Trump’s handling of trade policy by 54 percent to 34 percent in the latest Quinnipiac University poll, with only Republicans and white voters without a college education backing his tariff offensive.

In acting, the president swept aside opposition from business groups, which agree that China’s mercantilist policies must be confronted, but fear the consequences of a tit-for-tat trade conflict.

“If history is any indication, these proposed tariffs will not work and will be entirely counterproductive. Tariffs penalize U.S. consumers by increasing prices on technology products and will not change China’s behavior,” said Dean Garfield, chief executive of the Information Technology Industry Council, which represents companies such as Apple, Dell, IBM and Google. “Instead, the administration should act consistent with international obligations and work with other countries to address systemic issues with China.”

The office of the U.S. trade representative released a list of 1,300 proposed tariff increases, but set a 30-day period for receiving comments from affected businesses.

In compiling the list, U.S. officials used algorithms to identify products that benefited from China’s state-directed campaign of technology acquisition while eliminating those whose inclusion would disrupt the U.S. economy.

The list was drafted to achieve “the lowest consumer impact,” according to Robert Lighthizer, the U.S. trade representative.

China has opposed President Trump’s tariff plan, calling it “self-defeating” and vowing to fight a trade war if the U.S. persists.

Beijing earlier this week imposed tariffs on about $3 billion in American goods, in response to separate U.S. import levies on steel and aluminum.