The United State and China have imposed fresh tariffs on $16 billion (Rs 1.1 lakh crore) worth of each other’s goods on Thursday as the trade war between the countries continues. With the second round of tariffs, goods worth $50 billion (Rs 3.5 lakh crore) are now subjected to tariffs on both sides since early July, reported Reuters.
The tariffs came into effect at 12.01 am local time (9.31 am Indian time) even as officials of both countries met for the first face-to-face trade discussions since June, reported Bloomberg. US Treasury Undersecretary for International Affairs David Malpass and Chinese Vice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen will continue their talks on Thursday in Washington.
US President Donald Trump on Monday said he did not “anticipate much” from the talks.
The new 25% tax will affect nearly 280 Chinese goods, including chemical products, agricultural equipment, motorcycles and antennas, BBC reported. China retaliated with its own 25% tariff on US goods like coal, medical instruments, cars and buses.
The US is also set to hold hearings this week on a proposed list of an additional $200 billion worth of Chinese imports to face tariffs.
Trump has threatened to impose duties on more than $500 billion of Chinese goods exported annually to the US unless Beijing agrees to changes to its intellectual property practices, industrial subsidy programmes and tariff structure.
In June, China imposed retaliatory tariffs on 659 United States products after Trump imposed trade tariffs on Beijing. “The United States can no longer tolerate losing our technology and intellectual property through unfair economic practices,” Trump had said while imposing tariffs on 800 product categories in China.
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