ZCZC
BCN-20
CHINA-US-TRADE-TARIFF-DISPUTE
China set to respond to new round of US tariffs
BEIJING, Aug 9, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – China said Wednesday it will impose 25
percent tariffs on a further $16 billion of US goods, making good on its
promise to retaliate against new American levies.
The announcement is the latest round in a tit-for-tat trade conflict
between the world’s two largest economies which has left global markets on
edge.
China’s levies will come into force at 12:01 on August 23, according to a
statement on the finance ministry’s web site.
The decision follows Washington’s announcement Tuesday that it will
implement levies on $16 billion of Chinese products starting from the same
date.
The taxes were the second tranche of a planned $50 billion package that
began on July 6 when the US slapped duties on $34 billion in Chinese goods,
provoking a dollar-for-dollar response from Beijing.
Washington and Beijing are locked in a battle over US accusations that
China’s export economy benefits from unfair policies and subsidies, and
especially from the theft of American technological know-how.
US President Donald Trump has boasted that trade wars are “easy to win” and
warned he would hit virtually all Chinese imports if Beijing does not back
down and take steps to reduce its $335 billion surplus with the US.
Washington has so far lined up an additional $200 billion in Chinese
imports and last week Trump said he could raise tariffs on those products to
25 percent instead of the previously touted 10 percent.
Beijing has called on US officials to be “cool headed”, but has warned it
will retaliate against any tariffs with its own measures.
However, the US imports far more from China than it exports to it, meaning
Beijing may at some point need to look for other means of retaliation.
BSS/AFP/HR/1020