US Slaps China with $50 bln in Tariffs, Beijing Immediately Hits Back


US Slaps China with $50 bln in Tariffs, Beijing Immediately Hits Back

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – US President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on hundreds of Chinese products, from X-ray tubes to incinerators, while Beijing is striking back by targeting US soybeans, beef, seafood and other products.

The punch-and-counterpunch announced Friday in Washington and Beijing moved the world's two largest economies perilously near a trade war that would inflate prices for consumers and disrupt the flow of goods, AP reported.

The White House on Friday announced plans to slap 25 percent tariffs on more than 1,100 Chinese products, worth $50 billion a year in imports.

Starting July 6, the US will tax 818 products, worth $34 billion a year in imports, that remained from the original list.

Beijing immediately said it would retaliate with penalties of the same scale on American goods — and it spelled out details to impose tariffs on 545 US exports, including farm products, autos and seafood.

"The Chinese side doesn't want to fight a trade war, but facing the shortsightedness of the US side, China has to fight back strongly," the Chinese Commerce Ministry said in a statement. "We will immediately introduce the same scale and equal taxation measures, and all economic and trade achievements reached by the two sides will be invalidated."

American soybean farmers, who send about 60 percent of their exports to China, are especially worried about Beijing's retaliation. Soybean prices were already falling before Friday's announcement.

Tariffs are a tax. So they drive up the price of targeted imports. The reduced foreign competition means that domestic producers can raise their prices, too.

The dispute came as Trump just enraged the EU, Canada and Mexico by imposing tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. Worse, he argued that the imported metals posed a threat to US national security — an insult to the longstanding American allies that they roundly rejected. He has also threatened to tax auto imports, also on national security grounds.

Critics say Trump's decision to pick fights with America's friends weakens his hand against China.

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