Driving commercial and political engagement between Asia, the Middle East and Europe
Driving commercial and political engagement between Asia, the Middle East and Europe
Driving commercial and political engagement between Asia, the Middle East and Europe
The US will impose new 25% tariffs on up to US$16 billion worth of Chinese goods on 23 August, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer announced yesterday.
The Office of the US Trade Representative said in a statement that the tariffs are in ‘response to China’s unfair trade practices related to the forced transfer of American technology and intellectual property.’
Items targeted in the final list of 279 are mostly industrial goods such as tractors, plastic tubes, and measurement equipment like speedometers, Business Insider reports.
They represent the second tranche of tariffs outlined by Washington earlier this year, with the first round taking effect in July, as outlined in USA Today.
However, according to the Financial Times, China’s exports outperformed expectations in July, despite US tariffs. The dollar value of exports rose 12.2 per cent in July compared to a year earlier, accelerating from revised growth of 11.2 per cent (previously 11.3 per cent) in the previous month, the FT reports.
Whether China can maintain this performance as the trade war intensifies remains to be seen, and there are already signs of strain. The South China Morning Post suggests that Beijing is ‘carefully cherry-picking’ its tariffs to account for resource pressure. ‘Beijing has been forced to be more restrained in its trade war with Washington, levying lower duties on US goods it cannot easily buy elsewhere, as it scrambles to match the near-exhaustive list of US tariffs proposed on Chinese goods,’ the Post reports.
The trade war, meanwhile, shows no sign of relenting. Last week, President Trump instructed Lighthizer to explore increasing another round tariffs, expected in September, to 25 per cent from their original level of 10 per cent. China vowed to respond.
