A cargo ship holds shipping containers as other containers sit at the Port of Los Angeles, the nation’s busiest container port, in September 2018.
Mario Tama | Getty Images News | Getty Images
BEIJING –Chinais moving slowly in the implementation of retaliatory tariffs as trade tensions with the US escalate.
The Chinese government pushed ahead Sunday with increased duties of between 5% and 10% on a variety of major American goods exported to China, including soybeans and crude oil.
However, the proportion of tariffs thatkicked in on Sundayonly account for about one third of the more than 5, 000 product lines listed in the latest announcement. The majority of the duties will take effect Dec. 15, and China’s plans to reinstate tariffs on US autos and auto parts will also not take place until that time.
A report by Panjiva, a supply chain data company that’s part of S&P Global Market Intelligence, pointed out that the products in the Sept. 1 group may have been chosen since those items saw some recovery in shipments rather than further decline. The Aug. 27 analysis pointed out that U.S. exports in the Sept. 1 group fell by 15. 2% in the second quarter from a year ago, versus a drop of 20. 4% for the Dec. 15 group.
The increases are part of the Ministry of Finance’sAug. 23 announcementfor retaliatory tariffs on $ 75 billion worth of US goods. A portion of PresidentDonald Trump‘s latest tariff increases also took effect Sunday.
Essentially, all $ 550 billion worth of Chinese exports to the US are set to be subject to duties when another round is implemented in December.
… we think the problem that should be discussed is the cancellation of tariffs on $ 550 billion worth of Chinese exports, to prevent further escalation of the trade war.
Gao Feng
spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce
Beijing has sought to boost domestic morale amid the added pressure of tariffs to an economy already facing a growth slowdown. The world’s second-largest economy is also trying to shift away from relying on manufacturing and exports for growth, to consumption.
“The big stick of tariffs can’t hold back China’s development, “the Chinese Communist Party newspaperPeople’s Daily saidin the headline of a Sunday article, According to a CNBC translation of the Chinese text.
Analyst reportsand anecdotes also indicate that Chinese companies are finding ways toadapt to the tariffsand survive in the long term.
However, the Chinese side has called for the cancellation of all additional tariffs as part of a trade agreement.
“Under the current situation, we think the problem that should be discussed is the cancellation of tariffs on $ 550 billion worth of Chinese exports, to prevent further escalation of the trade war, “spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce, Gao Feng, said during a press conference Thursday, according to a CNBC translation of his Mandarin-language remarks. “At this time, the Chinese side is under serious negotiations on this topic with the US side.”
Here is a selection of some of the US goods that China raised tariffs on this past Sunday, some of which have appeared on previous lists for higher duties:
Subject to a 10% tariff increase:
Frozen lobster and shrimp
Pistachios
Walnuts
Macadamia nuts
Pine nuts
Bananas
(Avocados) (Lemons) Oranges
Raisins
Frozen chicken feet
Oatmeal
Peanut butter
Vodka
Toothpaste
Subject to a 5% tariff increase:
Yogurt
Yellow soybeans
Coffee pods and coffee beans
Crude oil
Hydrogen
Oxygen
Nitrogen
Pigs
Live orchids
Non-alcoholic beer
Couscous pasta
Canned pineapple
Canned pear
Cranberry juice
Pneumatic rubber tires
The retaliatory tariffs in the trade war of the past year has hit American companies as well.
Over the weekend, the US-China Business Council said in itsannual member surveythat nearly half of the respondents reported lost sales, primarily due to the implementation of tariffs. The survey also found that members were losing market share to foreign competitors.
“Chinese customers are concerned about supply chain links that depend on American companies, which they increasingly view as unreliable business partners as a result of the volatility of the bilateral commercial relationship, “the council’s report said. The portion of respondents citing these Chinese concerns as a reason for lost sales increased seven-fold between 2018 and 2019 to 37%, the survey found.
US exports to China contribute to more than 1.1 million American jobs, according to a separate report from the council.
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