China Announced New Tariffs on 128 American Products

According to the announcement of the Ministry of Finance, the Tariff and Tax Commission of the State Council has decided to suspend the duty of tariff concessions on some imports originating in the United States, which will come into effect on April 2, 2018.

In short, China will impose new tariffs on American meat, fruit and some steel products in retaliation for Trump's trade barriers against China, which will hit 128 American products.

According to Reuters, the new tariff list is in line with the list released by China on March 23. China's new tariffs on meat, fruits and other products in retaliation for America's responsibilities have heightened fears of a potential trade war between the world's two largest economies.

As you can see from the statement issued by the Ministry of Finance, the goal of the tariff is to retaliate directly against the 232 measures taken by Donald Trump against imported steel and aluminium. China has been warning in the past few weeks that it will take action against the United States.

It is understood that the Customs and Excise Commission of China is raising*the tariff rate on pork products and aluminium waste by 25%. It also imposes a 15% new tariff on 120 other American imports, from almonds to apples and berries.

Previously, China announced tariffs on US imports worth US$3 billion (128 commodity categories today). Most media believe that the decision to target US$3 billion is significant, but given the scale of bilateral trade relations, it is widely regarded as a reminder to Trump that US$3 billion and US$60 billion seem to be wicked. Ultimately, it could hurt American farmers and farmers - many of whom came from areas where Trump voted in 2016. American farmers shipped nearly $20 billion of goods to China in 2017. The US pork industry has sent $1.1 billion in*products, making China the third largest market for*pork in the US.

For Trump, it is easier to win votes in mid-term elections than in painful restructuring of national economic reforms and blaming other countries for their problems. But he can't force China to give in, because China knows that the demands of the United States are endless.

Official US data show that US exports to China totaled US$115.6 billion in 2016, while China's measures for 128 imported goods are more likely to throw stones and ask for directions. Because the United States is not a major producer of these specific products, it is easy for China to find alternative countries or substitutes when trying to import these products.

It is noteworthy that China's announcement of trade retaliation measures is only aimed at Trump's 232 measures, which are tariff barriers to steel and aluminium. No mention has been made of Trump's announcement in March that he plans to impose a new tariff of up to $60 billion on Chinese imports, which means that greater retaliation is still in the pipeline.

However, some economists believe that "if China wants to achieve the manufacturing target of 2025, then" in terms of the value of American exports, more related products will be difficult to include, such as high-end semiconductor chips, CPU, GPU, large-scale integrated circuits and other high-tech industries in the United States. If measures are taken, the process of upgrading Chinese physical manufacturing will be dragged down. However, Trump's tariff response also expresses the reluctance of Americans to unilateral hegemonism, because China has achieved some success in new industrial fields such as artificial intelligence, which is threatening the monopoly advantages of the United States.

In any case, many people worry that the escalation of trade tensions between Beijing and Washington could damage the global economy. (China Tungsten Online: Weiping)

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