US Set to Hit China with $50 Billion in Tariffs Today
“China’s tolerance for pain greater than the US,” claims the Communist Party mouthpiece
President Donald Trump is expected to announce new tariffs on Chinese exports to the United States later today. The decision comes after a seven-month-long investigation by the Trump administration into the U.S. intellectual property theft orchestrated by Beijing. The move is expected to hit $50 billion worth of Chinese imports.
Earlier this month, President Trump’s hinted at raising tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, a measure opposed by the European Union — raising the prospects of a long-drawn trade war with Brussels and other trading partners.
Reuters news agency reported the detailed of the upcoming White House decision:
President Donald Trump will announce tariffs on Chinese imports on Thursday, a White House official said, in a move aimed at curbing theft of U.S. technology and likely to trigger retaliation from Beijing and stoke fears of a global trade war.
There was no indication of the size and scope of the tariffs, which U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said on Wednesday would target China’s high-technology sector and could also include restrictions on Chinese investments in the United States. Other sectors like apparel could also be hit.
“Tomorrow the president will announce the actions he has decided to take based on USTR’s 301 investigation into China’s state-led, market-distorting efforts to force, pressure, and steal U.S. technologies and intellectual property,” the official said. (…)
The investigation by the United States under Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act has identified theft from and coercion of U.S. companies to disclose their intellectual property as well as purchases by Chinese state funds of U.S. companies for their technology knowledge.
“China’s tolerance for pain is greater than the US” in case of a “trade war,” declared Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of the Global Times, a Communist Party mouthpiece.
Hong Kong-based newspaper South China Morning Post also reiterated Beijing’s resolve to take “all necessary measures” in retaliation to any “punitive tariffs on Chinese imports”:
China warned US President Donald Trump on Thursday that Beijing will not “sit back” and let its interests to be harmed, ahead of an announcement from Washington on a new round of punitive tariffs on Chinese imports.
Sources familiar with Chinese government discussions said Beijing had been preparing a contingency plan to deal with escalating trade tensions with the United States. (…)
Despite China’s tough pronouncements, the newspaper hinted room for compromise:
On Wednesday, the Chinese consul general to the US offered easier access to China’s markets for foreign investors, promising reforms that would be “beyond expectations”.
Speaking at a China General Chamber of Commerce-USA event in New York, Zhang Qiyue said barriers would be removed or eased for foreign investors in the country’s financial sector and market entry standards would be the same for Chinese and foreign banks.
China, world’s second-largest economy, heavily depends on U.S. exports. The U.S.-China bilateral trade is estimated to be around $650 billion, with trade deficit tipped in favor of Beijing at around 385 billion.
Despite sustained economic growth, Beijing has already lowered it’s GDP projections for this year to 6,5 percent compared to last year’s 6,9 percent. A trade dispute with its biggest trading partners could force the Chinese economy to cool down further.
A protracted trade dispute with the U.S. could adversely impact Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s attempts to consolidate power. Xi Jinping recently abolishing presidential term limits and has embarked on an ambitious plan to merge China’s state television and radio stations to create a mega-broadcaster, arguably of the largest propaganda platforms in the world.
While the U.S. is disengaging from foreign conflicts under Trump, Beijing is stretching its capacities with recent military showdowns with Taiwan and India, both major military powers, over unresolved territorial disputes.
If China blinks first in this impending trade conflict with Trump, this would be perhaps the first time the Asian giant would make major concessions on trade-related matters since its transformation from a Communist system to a market-based economy. By taking on China over trade, President Trump could be making the biggest deal of his life.
[Author served as the press officer at the German Office for Foreign Trade in New Delhi]
Trump signed the agreement Thursday afternoon:
President Trump signs memorandum imposing new tariffs on China. He’s then asked about testifying before the special counsel.
Full video here: https://t.co/1Gd7qI3qdw pic.twitter.com/Nzynt0Ayw6
— CSPAN (@cspan) March 22, 2018
[Cover image via YouTube]
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Comments
A baby step to redressing environmental, labor, and monetary arbitrage, and placing native people first.
We can buy the same imports from India and a dozen other places. I wonder how many multi-trillion dollar economies there are for China to dump it’s crap on.
So will the two old ladies from Ohio who invented Icicle Lights get their business back? China stole their idea and method of production and put them out of business.
Mitch McConnel and wife hardest hit.
Not to mention his son and Kerry’s stepson.
And the Dow is down 600. Maybe time for Trump to stop bragging on that.
Apparently $50Bn in goods, so around $12-13Bn in tariffs. Targeted in response to IP theft. More to come.
We have a great president here in the making. Bolton, attempt to slow down China; this takes exceptional courage. Now, prior to whatever point in time it was that Mr. Trump set his sites, thankfully, on becoming our President, he–despite his much money and building projects, he would have undergone that process common to all: the finding of himself. When money is no object, pursuit is limitless–may have gotten him into areas the common man/woman cannot afford. But he has now committed his and our future to a strong America, the making America great again. He must have our support for his life and actions now. William Jefferson Clinton “didn’t inhale”; we may be faced, in the future, with a somewhat similar “But, I wore a condom.” Let the inconsequential past be the past!! Remember the saying about glass houses and not throwing stones, ourselves; let each person remember “He who is sinless amongst you cast the first stone at her (an adultress). ‘Love this guy, Let’s give him good support.
China has been an antagonist to the US since WWII. It has flexed military muscle and economic muscle since the 1970s. And, the government of the US has not only allowed that, but encouraged it. The current administration is simply saying enough is enough, where China is concerned.
We could engage in a shooting war against those who actively seek to harm us. Or, we can use the greatest weapon in our arsenal, the fact that we represent 25% of the consumer market in the world. Fair Play in the arena of global trade is all that the current administration is asking. And, apparently, they have the cajones to back up their demands.