China plans tariffs on imports of US pork imports, recycled aluminium, steel pipes, fruit and wine, according to a Commerce Ministry statement on Friday. China will also pursue legal action against the US at the World Trade Organization in response to the US planned tariffs on steel and aluminium imports, the statement said, and called for dialogue to resolve the dispute.
The announcement came hours after Trump instructed US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to slap tariffs on at least US$50 billion in Chinese imports. That was in addition to the metals duties ordered earlier this month on China and other countries. The news sent US equities tumbling, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 724 points, almost 3 percent, its biggest drop in six weeks. All major indexes in Asia also fell on Friday.
“The US declared a trade war, but China is acting quite restrained. The list that China has announced appears to be a retaliation, but still, it is very measured,” said Li Yong, senior fellow of China Association of International Trade. “The move sends a message that China is able to fight back, but we still want a trade peace instead of a trade war.”
The US will impose 25 percent duties on targeted Chinese products to compensate for the harm caused to the American economy from China’s policies, according to a fact sheet released by USTR. The proposed product list will include items in aerospace, information and communication technology and machinery. The USTR will announce the proposed list in the next “several days,” according to the fact sheet.
Long in making
“This has been long in the making,” Trump said, adding that the tariffs could affect as much as US$60 billion in goods. “We have a tremendous intellectual property theft situation going on” with China affecting hundreds of billions of dollars in trade each year, he said.
As he signed the tariffs order, Trump told reporters, “This is the first of many.”
“This is an opening gambit by China, signalling that the imposition of tariffs by the US will elicit what Beijing views as a proportionate retaliatory response,” said Eswar Prasad, a former chief of the International Monetary Fund’s China division and now a professor at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. “China has the ability to inflict significant economic harm on US exporters of certain goods and can also use other overt as well as covert actions such as supply chain disruptions to hurt US manufacturers.”
Policymakers across the world are warning of a brewing trade war that could undermine the broadest global recovery in years. Meanwhile, business groups representing companies ranging from Walmart Inc. to Amazon.com Inc. are warning US tariffs could raise prices for consumers and sideswipe stock prices.
Fed warnings
Even central banks, which normally stay above the fray of trade spats, are weighing in. “A number of participants reported about their conversations with business leaders around the country and reported that trade policy has become a concern,” Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said this week, while cautioning that trade issues haven’t changed the Fed’s outlook. The Bank of England warned Thursday that increased protectionism could have a “significant negative impact” on global growth.
Trump also directed Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to propose new investment restrictions on Chinese companies within 60 days to safeguard technologies the US views as strategic, said senior White House economic adviser Everett Eissenstat.
The Trump administration is framing the move as a major turning point in US-China relations. It followed a seven-month investigation by USTR into allegations China violates US intellectual property, under the seldom-used section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act. The US concluded China engages in a range of violations, including policies that force American companies to transfer technology and the accessing of trade secrets through hacking, said Eissenstat.