China has taken the first retaliatory step against the United States. Beijing will impose reciprocal tariffs of 34 percent on all imports from the United States starting April 10, fulfilling a promise to retaliate after US President Donald Trump escalated a global trade war.
"This US practice is inconsistent with international trade rules, seriously undermines China's legitimate rights and interests, and is a typical unilateral bullying practice," China's State Council Tariff Commission said in a statement announcing its retaliatory tariffs.
On Wednesday, Trump announced an additional 34% tariff on all Chinese imports to the U.S., in a move expected to trigger a major reshuffle in relations and exacerbate trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies. Since returning to power in January, Trump had already imposed two 10% additional tariffs on all Chinese imports, which the White House said were necessary to stem the flow of illegal fentanyl from the country to the U.S. That means Chinese goods arriving in the U.S. will effectively be subject to 54% tariffs.
The 54% tariffs are higher than many analysts had expected and could fundamentally reshape the relationship, and the roughly half-trillion dollars in trade, between the two economies after decades of interdependence. That means American products like pharmaceuticals, nuclear reactor materials and many technology products. Consumers and businesses are likely to face higher inflation, with prices rising on everything from imported foods like coffee and chocolate to iPhones and other electronics made outside the U.S. Almost all iPhones are still made in China, according to the Council on Foreign Relations, although Apple has moved some of its iPhone manufacturing to India.
As part of the retaliatory measures announced on Friday, China also added 11 US companies to its "unreliable entity list," including drone manufacturers, and imposed export controls on 16 US companies to ban the export of Chinese dual-use items. (A2 Televizion)
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