China threatens tariffs on $60 billion in U.S. goods
- by Shawn Tate
- in Economy
- — Aug 4, 2018
China unveiled on Friday a list of US goods - $60 billion worth - that could be affected by raised tariffs in retaliation to earlier American threats of the same.
The announcement comes after US President Donald Trump threatened to raise the proposed tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese exports from 10 percent to 25 percent.
The retaliation stands to further inflame tensions between the world's two biggest economies and echoes China's response to the previous round of tariffs, which took effect last month.
A first round of tariffs came into effect on 6 July, when the USA imposed 25% taxes on $34bn of Chinese imports.
"China is forced to take countermeasures", said a ministry statement.
Mr Trump is aiming to reduce his country's $375.6 billion trade deficit in goods - the gap between imports and exports - with China.
Calling the Chinese economy weak from the lawn of the White House in an interview with Bloomberg TV, Kudlow said: "The president has said time and again, that targeted tariffs are going to be part of the gameplan with China - unless, and until, they begin to meet our requests, and so far they have not".
"Foreign investors don't want to be in China".
But Trump raised the stakes this week with his threat to raise the tariff rate.
The escalating dispute, with no settlement in sight, has fueled fears it might chill global trade and economic growth. "That's not a good place for them to be vis-a-vis the trade negotiations", according to Kudlow, who is director of the National Economic Council.
Beijing said the timing of the new tariffs would depend on whether the U.S. follows through on its threat.
"Any unilateral threat or blackmail will only lead to intensification of conflicts and damage to the interests of all parties".
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (left) and China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi (right) shake hands during their bilateral meeting at the 51st Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Singapore on Aug 3, 2018.
China's imports from the United States a year ago totaled $153.9 billion.
China's finance ministry unveiled new sets of additional tariffs on 5,207 goods imported from the United States, with the extra levies ranging from 5 to 25 percent.
Beijing can not match those measures dollar for dollar, as its exports far exceed imports.
But analysts say that China can also absorb the hits by expanding stimulus programmes, fiscal spending and bank lending.
These new tariffs would affect about 38% of all American exports to China, which are worth about $170 billion in total.
The dynamic has proved hard to change, given US consumers' reliance on Chinese goods.
