Trade tensions escalated between the USA and China with Beijing slapping tariffs on 128 US goods, from scrap aluminum and pork to nuts, wine and fruits.
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Exported U.S. pork products will be hit with a 25% duty by China, while U.S. wine, fresh and dried fruit and nuts will be charged a 15% tariff.
In a statement from the Chinese Ministry of Finance, the government said the new tariffs “caused serious damage to our interests”.
“It’s clear the future growth of the USA meat sector, and agricultural economy depends upon a robust trade relationship with China”, Carpenter said, adding that “we once again urge the Trump administration to pursue constructive negotiations with the Chinese government to prevent further escalation of a trade war that will undoubtedly harm USA businesses and consumers”.
Chinese officials have expressed willingness to negotiate, but insist they won’t back down should the USA refuse to end its trade war with their country.
China’s Communist Party recently authorized an aggressive program of stealing USA science and technology information by recruiting Americans in the tech sector with access to trade secrets, according to an internal Party directive.
Iowa is America’s top pork producer, and already some estimate that 10 percent of the state’s farms will probably fail in the coming year.
Here are some of the goods on which the Chinese government raised tariffs Monday.
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said last week that Section 301 tariffs would focus on Chinese industries benefiting from the Made in China 2025 plan, which aims to replace advanced technology imports with domestic products.
Monday, Chinese officials urged more trade talks between Beijing and Washington, and called on US officials to revoke protectionist trade measures they say violate World Trade Organization rules.
Soybeans weren’t targeted for tariffs by China, the world’s biggest buyer of the oilseeds, but the USA agriculture sector worries soybeans could draw future retaliation if the trade dispute escalates.
He believes tariffs are part of the administration’s plan to protect the supply side of the economic equation so that the USA does not lose its competitiveness as other countries continue to subsidize their economies.
The Trump administration is scheduled to compile its final list of tariff goods by Friday.
Still, some in China are calling for stronger retaliatory measures on soybeans and other agricultural products as well as big-ticket USA goods such as Boeing aircraft.
Stocks fell sharply on Monday as investors responded to rising trade tensions between the United States and China and mounting scrutiny of big technology companies from consumers and politicians. Significant drops on the stock market have coincided with Trump’s announcement of new tariffs, and the Dow fell 65 points this morning following news of China’s retaliatory tariffs (and following Trump’s Easter Sunday Twitter tirade against the North American Free Trade Agreement).
“The amount subject to tariff is not big, which shows China is willing to ease the intensity of the trade conflict that was started by the USA”, said Shi Yinhong, director of the United States research centre at Renmin University in Beijing.
Liu He, a Chinese vice premier and economic adviser to President Xi Jinping, told Steven Mnuchin, the USA treasury secretary, in a phone call just more than a week ago that the two countries should “stay rational and work together to maintain the overall stability of their economic and trade relations”.
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“Trump gave us a heavy shot, and China is giving a light shot back”. China said previously it planned to seek compensation for trade lost to the U.S. metals actions. He has promised to bring down the United States’ huge trade deficit in goods with China, which reached $375 billion a year ago.
