USA steel tariff measures criticized at WTO

Aides described the $50 billion figure as a conservative estimate of what forced technology transfer and other moves by China cost the US economy. Adam Segal, who tracks Chinese technology policy at the Council on Foreign Relations, says the announcement fired the starting gun on a backroom battle over the products that will be subject to the tariffs. Neither will Argentina, Brazil, South Korea and the member countries of the European Union.

President Donald Trump’s announcement that he’s moving to impose steel tariffs of up to $60 billion worth of Chinese imports is rattling financial markets and touching off a fresh economic debate.

China warned Friday that it could slap tariffs on 128 US products worth a total of $3 billion, including a 25 percent levy on pork products and recycled aluminum imports from the U.S.

In announcing the planned tariffs, the commerce ministry said China would also “take legal action within the framework of the World Trade Organisation”.

The Trump administration, though, has said it is simply taking long-overdue action following years of unfair Chinese trading practices that they argue previous administrations have insufficiently countered.

President Donald Trump has taken the first step in imposing tariffs on almost $50 billion worth of Chinese imports.

The U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs also have irked Japan, America’s closest ally in Asia.

Samsonite executives say it manufactures two-thirds of its products in China and now pays a tariff of more than 25% on them to the US. But he declared the USA would emerge “much stronger, much richer”.

Not long after, USA stock markets nosedived, with the Dow closing down 724 points on fears of a trade war possibly driving up costs on American businesses and ultimately consumers.

“Chinese retaliation against US wine would put our producers at a significant disadvantage in one of the most important markets in the world at a critical time”, said Bobby Koch, CEO of the Wine Institute. And that’s China. But we have a trade deficit, depending on the way you calculate, of $504 billion.

In applying the steel and aluminum tariffs, Trump’s main concern is that China has for years overproduced steel and aluminum, depressing prices globally and causing job losses in other countries, like the US but also in Europe. Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of OR asked him which countries will be exempted from the looming tariffs, “as of tomorrow”.

The tariffs are explicitly calculated to help the United States recoup losses from from the forfeiting of this intellectual property and being forced to share profits with Chinese partners, said Peter Navarro, director of the White House National Trade Council, on the call. Mexico and Canada were already exempted.

In its decision previous year, the Commerce Department accused Australian and Brazilian producers of dumping product on the U.S. market and unfairly benefiting from subsidies.

China announced its own tariffs Friday on $3 billion worth of USA imports, which Beijing said was in response to the steel and aluminum tariffs announced earlier this month.

Under Beijing’s proposed retaliation plan, Washington state’s exports of apples, cherries and potatoes will be targeted; and the state’s top two exports to China, civilian aircraft products and soybeans, could also be in the crosshairs of a furious Beijing. The first will take the form of tariffs of 25% on up to $60bn of Chinese exports to America. Trump’s sanctions will not be without ramifications however, with President Xi’s China expected to retaliate strongly. She said, “The Chinese see them as a major threat and do not want a costly trade war”. “The challenge for every president, however, is how to punish China without harming our families, businesses, and farmers”.

For now, specifics about the administration’s China tariffs remain sparse. For example, Chinese suppliers are important to the Open Compute Project that internet companies such as Facebook, Google, and Microsoft support to make servers and other data center equipment cheaper.

According to his schedule, released by the White House on Wednesday evening, he will sign “a Presidential Memorandum targeting China’s economic aggression”.