As the Trump administration continued to impose tariffs on Chinese goods, China quickly retaliated with its own levies. More than 5,000 of United States’ products will face tariffs. The Chinese government announced its plan to “impose tariffs of 5 percent to 10 percent on $60 billion worth of U.S. products,” starting on Monday, NPR reported.
The tariffs imposed on Chinese goods caused an “economic emergency,” China’s Commerce Ministry announced on its website, and therefore, China had no other option, but to retaliate, it said.
While the Trump administration said it’s “not trying to constrain China’s growth. … We remain open to negotiations” and “hope that China will come to the table and address the concerns we have raised,” business officials tend to disagree with the government’s decision.
“We disagree with the tactics that the president is using,” Jake Parker, vice president of the U.S.-China Business Council in Beijing, said to NPR. “We don’t think tariffs are the answer. We think the two sides need to sit down and negotiate an outcome that is beneficial to both countries, and helps the Chinese implement the types of reforms that the Trump administration is looking for.”
A credit-rating agency, Moody, predicts the trade war between the U.S and China will have a negative affect on the global economy “by distorting prices and creating inefficiencies globally.”
“Companies that rely on global supply chains will likely hold off investment decisions given the uncertainty around tariffs,” the credit-rating agency said.
But Peter Navarro, White House trade adviser, told NPR that the goal is to bring jobs, production and investment back to the United States.
“In response to these tariffs, we’ll also see more investment here in the United States, we’ll see more production here in the United States, we’ll see our wages go up,” Navarro added.
Donald Trump vowed to add tariffs to $267 billion more Chinese goods if China retaliated.
COMMENTS