China's Ministry of Commerce wasted no time carrying out its pledge to respond to Trump's ever-increasing tariffs in kind. Only hours after the U.S. said it was moving forward with tariffs on another $16 billion in Chinese goods, Beijing said it would retaliate with the same amount.
The updated tariff list, published by the Ministry of Finance on Wednesday, will slap 25 percent duties on 333 products instead of the initial 114 identified in mid-June, keeping the total value of the goods unchanged.
The new list removed some imports, including crude oil, from the crossfire. Instead, a vast array of vehicles, scraps and recyclables, petrochemicals, and medical equipment were added to the list.
The ministry blasted the U.S.'s move, which USTR announced Tuesday evening, as "once again overriding domestic law over international law" and "a very unreasonable practice." Beijing said in a statement it will target certain metals, various types of motorcycles and railway cars in its retaliation.
"In order to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests and the multilateral trading system, the Chinese side had to make the necessary counter-measures and decided to impose a 25 percent tariff on $16 billion from U.S. imports and implement it in parallel with the U.S.," the ministry said, according to an informal translation.
Scrap recycling industry: The U.S. recycling industry, which last year exported a total of $5.6 billion in scrap commodities to China, highlighted that all scrap commodities would be caught in the crossfire after the latest round of back-and-forth tariffs takes effect Aug. 23. That comes after exports to Beijing were down nearly a quarter in the first six months of the year compared with the same period in 2017 because of the import restrictions, the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries said.
The highest 25 percent tariff would hit imports like liquefied natural gas, fishing rods
China has also prepared a retaliatory list of goods it will target in response to potential U.S. tariffs on $200 billion of its exports, which Trump recently threatened could be as high as 25 percent, instead of the 10 percent he had initially laid out. That list of goods included honey, peas, frozen spinach and ginger, according to a translation provided by the Agriculture Department.
Attached Document
The attached file is an updated translation of the six lists of imports from the U.S. on which China has imposed or may impose tariffs on in one excel sheet.
Tab 1- China tariffs list on 34 billion of imports from the U.S. announced on June 16, 2018, and implemented on July 6th, 2018.
Tab 2- Initial 16 billon dollar proposal.
Tab 3- China tariff list on 16 billion of imports from the U.S. announced on August 8th, 2018 and to be implemented on August 23rd, 2018.
Tab 4- Chinese proposed 25% tariff list on imports from the U.S. announced August 3rd, 2018, not yet implemented.
Tab 5- Chinese proposed
Tab 6- Chinese proposed
Tab 7- Chinese proposed 25% tariff list on imports from the U.S. announced August 3rd, 2018, not yet implemented.
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