Trade war: US tariffs take effect, China retaliates with similar levy
CROSSFIRE Washington, Beijing each impose duties on $34 billion of products in titfortat exchange
BEIJING: A trade war between the world’s two largest economies, the US and China, is on after three rounds of talks to resolve the deadlock.
First shots of the newly-imposed tit-for-tat duties were fired after an additional 25% US tariffs on $34 billion worth of Chinese goods came into effect on Friday.
China has retaliated by imposing similar tariffs worth $34 billion on several hundreds of US products.
China said the US has ignited the largest trade war in economic history.
“China will not fire its first shot, but is inevitably forced to strike back to defend the core interest of the nation and its people,” a statement from the ministry of commerce said.
“We will report to the World Trade Organisation on a timely basis,” the statement added.
Earlier this year, Washington imposed tariffs on Chinese goods worth $50 billion apparently with an eye to reduce trade deficit with China.
The Trump administration has reiterated – despite the fear of losing jobs in the Us—that trade with China hasn’t been fair and it needs to be corrected. China doesn’t see it that way. “With the 25% additional tariffs on Chinese products worth $34 billion effective on Friday, the United States has ignited the largest trade war in economic history,” said a ministry of commerce (MOC) spokesperson in the statement.
“These tariffs violate the WTO rules and represents a typical “trade bully”, posing a grave threat to the security of global i ndustry and value MOSCOW: Russia slapped import duties on some US products in retaliation for Washington’s decision to penalise its metals sales, the latest shot in a burgeoning global trade war.
Duties of 25% to 40% of the value of imported products will be imposed on some US equipment used in construction, oil and gas, metal processing and fiber optics, economy minister Maxim Oreshkin said in a statement on Friday, following a government decree.
RUSSIA SLAPS IMPORT DUTIES ON SOME U.S. GOODS
chains,” official news agency,
reported.
“Moreover, it will hamper global economic recovery and trigger global market turmoil while dealing a blow to many multinationals, enterprises and ordinary consumers,” it added.
“Despite opposition from Chinese and US businesses, the White House has decided to proceed with levying punitive tariffs on imports from China beginning on Friday. Such a protectionist tool will directly impact enterprises worldwide, including those of the US, and does not jibe with international rules on resolving trade problems. Washington is sowing the seeds of its own defeat in the end,” the official news agency, Xinhua said in a commentary.
“US President Donald Trump believes that America’s trade deficit provides ironclad evidence illustrating how China has been “robbing” the US for years. However, surpluses and deficits are by no means the right barometer to gauge trade ties between any two countries,” it added.
“Why does the administration of Donald Trump engage in a trade confrontation with China? So far, there is no complete explanation. Some believe he wants more votes. Others think he really wants to address the US trade deficit issue with China. Some contend that containing China’s technological progress is his real purpose and that is why the list of tariffs targets Chinese industries such as aerospace, telecoms and artificial intelligence,” the nationalistic tabloid wrote in an editorial. WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump threatened a 20% tariff on cars imported from the European Union unless the bloc removes import duties and other barriers to US goods, escalating a global trade war the EU warned could endanger $300 billion in commerce.
“Based on the Tariffs and Trade Barriers long placed on the US and it great companies and workers by the European Union, if these Tariffs and Barriers are not soon broken down and removed, we will be placing a 20% Tariff on all of their cars coming into the US Build them here!” Trump said in a tweet on Friday. The EU planned to retaliate, according to a European Commission memo obtained by
“An introduction of US tariffs would be met with equivalent penalties imposed by affected trading partners,” it said. Shares of Volkswagen AG, Daimler AG and BMW AG fell in Frankfurt, and US auto firms erased earlier gains in New York trading.