United States President Donald Trump’s administration released a list of Chinese goods and proposed an additional 10% tariff amounting to $200 billion (Rs 137.65 crore) on these, reported CNBC. The tariffs will not be imposed immediately but will undergo a two-month review process with hearings from August 20 to 23.
The US administration on Friday imposed 25% duties on Chinese imports worth $34 billion (Rs 23,454 crore) after threatening to do so for months. China retaliated with duties on the same value of US goods, including soybeans and cars.
“For over a year, the Trump Administration has patiently urged China to stop its unfair practices, open its market, and engage in true market competition,” US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said in a statement. “Rather than address our legitimate concerns, China has begun to retaliate against US products.”
Trump’s latest action will hit consumer products, including televisions, clothing, bedsheets and air conditioners, which were spared from the first import levies on Friday.
China vowed to fight back against the Trump administration’s plans to impose tariffs on an additional $200 billion in Chinese goods, reported Xinhua. “The United States has unveiled the list of tariffs in an escalating manner,” a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Commerce said. “To defend the core interests of the nation and the fundamental interests of the people, the Chinese government will, as always, be forced to take necessary countermeasures,” the official said, adding that China will file a complaint with the World Trade Organisation.
The US is currently considering levying duties on a further $16 billion (Rs 11,036 crore) in Chinese goods, after a public hearing this month, Bloomberg reported. That will take the total amount to $550 billion (Rs 3.79 lakh crore), which exceeds the value of goods China exports to the United States, Bloomberg had reported.
On June 15, Trump announced 25% import tariffs worth $50 billion (Rs 3.4 lakh crore) on imports from China to “prevent further unfair transfers of American technology and intellectual property to China, which will protect our job”. The tariff list names 800 product categories, down from 1,300 previously. China then unveiled a list of products on which it will impose retaliatory import duties.
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