US triggers tariffs on China
WEB DESK
China’s government has said that it has filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization over the United States’ imposition of 25-percent tariffs on Chinese products, reports NHK.
China is expected to argue before the WTO that the US measures run counter to international rules.
The US administration of President Donald Trump says the levies are in response to China’s violation of US intellectual property rights.
In response, China’s customs authority announced that additional tariffs for some imports from the United States worth the same amount, including agricultural products, vehicles and aquatic products, also took effect on the same day.
“The Chinese side, having vowed not to fire the first shot, was forced to stage counter-attacks to protect the core national interests and interests of its people,” China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said in a statement Friday.
“These tariffs, imposed by the U.S., violate the World Trade Organization (WTO) rules and represent a typical ‘trade bully’, posing a grave threat to the security of global industry and value chains,” it said.
Instead of serving the interests of U.S. companies and people, the ministry said the move will prove to be counter-productive and damaging.
The U.S.-initiated trade war will hamper global economic recovery and trigger global market turmoil while dealing a blow to many multinationals, enterprises and ordinary consumers, the MOC warned.
“Workers, farmers, families and business are all losers in a trade war,” an article pointed out on the website of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the largest business group in the country.
China will report the relevant situations to the WTO in time, and stand with other countries in defending free trade and multilateral mechanisms.
Earlier US President Donald Trump pulled the trigger on tariffs on billions of dollars-worth of Chinese products.
This is the first round of Trump’s punishment of China for allegedly stealing US technology. He vowed to slap duties on more than 1,000 Chinese products back in June.
He said the tariffs would come in 2 phases.
The first round of tariffs applies to 800 Chinese products. They range from robots to aircraft parts to automobiles. Taken together, they’re worth some 34 billion dollars.
US officials are using section 301 of the US trade act to justify the 25-percent tariffs. This allows Washington to take unilateral action when it deems that a trading partner has engaged in unfair practices.
Beijing has signaled it will hit back immediately with tariffs on American goods to the same value. The products will include soybeans and other farm products.
Beijing has immediately hit back. It says American goods worth the same value are now subject to tariffs of 25 percent. They include soybeans and other agricultural produce.