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US trade war targets: the list lengthens
PARIS, Dec 4, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Donald Trump’s high-profile trade war with
China may be the biggest threat to the world economy among current trade
disputes waged or threatened by the US President, but the list of
Washington’s targets is lengthening.
– Chinese chronicle –
The bedrock of Trump’s trade policy disputes is the relation with China.
The world’s two biggest economies have spent two years levying trade
tariffs on each other along with threats of more tariffs.
Washington has already hit more than half of the roughly $500 billion in
annual US imports from China with increased duties, while Beijing has done
the same to around $110 billion worth of US goods.
Trump wants the Chinese to halt massive state industrial subsidies, to
curtail its policy of forcing foreign companies to transfer technology to
Chinese partners, and to stop alleged theft of intellectual property.
The next key date is December 15, when new US tariffs could take effect.
Meanwhile, dangled prospects of a modest trade deal that could mark a
truce and which have kept financial markets on tenterhooks appeared to be in
off-again mode on Tuesday.
Trump told a press conference in London: “I have no deadline. In some ways
I like the idea of waiting until after the election for the China deal,” a
reference to his bid for a second term in November 2020.
– France and European Union –
The EU has long been a US ally, but Trump regularly threatens to slap
tariffs on European goods.
German automakers have been spared so far, but French products are now on
the front line.
That is because France passed a law taxing digital giants like Google,
Apple, Facebook and Amazon on revenues earned inside the country.
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On Monday, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said Washington might
impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on $2.4 billion in French goods like
sparkling wine, yoghurt and Roquefort cheese in retaliation.
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire has vowed that Paris will only give
up the digital tax if a global one being mulled by the Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development replaces it.
He said Tuesday that “if there are new American tariffs there will be a
European response, a strong response”.
An EU spokesman said the bloc would respond “as one” to the US threat.
A separate front involves an ongoing spat over subsidies for Boeing and
European planemaker Airbus.
On Monday, a World Trade Organization panel found that the EU had failed
to remove illegal subsidies to Airbus, reinforcing an earlier WTO decision
that allowed the US to retaliate with tariffs on $7.5 billion in EU exports.
– Argentina and Brazil –
Trump on Monday said steel and aluminium tariffs would be reinstated on
Argentina and Brazil, accusing them of manipulating their currencies and
hurting US farmers.
“Brazil and Argentina have been presiding over a massive devaluation of
their currencies,” which was hurting American farmers, Trump said on Twitter.
Trump last year announced global tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10
percent on aluminum but later approved exemptions for some countries,
including Argentina and Brazil — after they agreed to quotas.
Brazil is the second-largest supplier of steel to the US market behind
Canada.
Brazil and Argentina have benefitted from the US trade war with China, as
they have stepped in to replace American exports of soybeans and other
agricultural goods to the Asian giant.
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– Canada and Mexico –
Following months of tense talks, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement
(USMCA) took a major step towards replacing the NAFTA trade pact that had
ensured free trade in North America for the past quarter century when Mexico
ratified the deal in June.
Both the US and Canada have yet to follow suit, and Democratic lawmakers
in the US are seeking a number of changes.
Meanwhile, Trump has cast doubt on the agreement by threatening Mexico
with tariffs to force the country to stem the flow of migrants to the US.
– India –
India is another target of Trump’s wrath, with the US halting in June
trade advantages that Indian goods had enjoyed.
Washington removed India from a list of countries that received duty-free
access for billions of dollars worth of imports after Trump said the US did
not receive comparable treatment in return.
The move came on the back of higher US tariffs on Indian steel and
aluminium.
India replied with duties on 28 goods from the United States, including
almonds and apples.
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