China announced 10-15% additional tariffs on agricultural and food products imported from the US on March 4 in retaliation to the US imposing a 20% tariff on all imports from China.
China also put 25 US firms on exports and investment restrictions on Tuesday. Some of these companies are supplying arms to Taiwan. China’s additional tariffs will be effective starting March 10.
On Tuesday, the Donald Trump administration announced an additional 10% tariff on all Chinese imports effective on March 4. The new tariff is in addition to the 10% tariff imposed on February 4. The move was announced along with 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada, over their alleged failures to control the flow of fentanyl and related chemicals into the US.
The Trump administration had agreed to extend the imposition of additional tariffs on Mexico and Canada, two of its largest trading partners, following a last minute deal with their leaders in the first week of February. However, it had imposed a 10% tariff on all Chinese imports effective from February 4.
China had announced a 15% tariff on coal and natural gas imports from the US in retaliation to the imposition of 10% tariffs in February.
Trump had imposed a 25% tariff on some Chinese imports during his first presidential term, in addition to maintaining trade restrictions on certain Chinese companies that were imposed during the Obama administration.
Tuesday’s Chinese tariffs are imposed mostly on food and agricultural products such as chicken, wheat, soybean, fruit and vegetables, and dairy.
China claimed that the US companies on its export control list were added to safeguard national security and to fulfill its international obligations of non-proliferation.
Fentanyl is a pretext to wage a trade and tariff war
China has maintained that the issue of fentanyl is a pretext to wage a trade and tariff war against the country, harming not only the mutual prospects of development but also the stability of the global economy. It asked the US to withdraw the arbitrary and unilateral tariff and resolve the outstanding issues through negotiations on an equal footing.
Chinese spokesperson, Lou Qinjian, said on Tuesday that unilateral tariffs violate rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and “disrupt the security and stability of global industrial and supply chains” asking for their immediate withdrawal.
He further said that instead of issuing threats and using pressure tactics, the US should sit and negotiate on equal footing if there is any dispute or issue because China “will never accept any act of pressuring and threatening.”
“A stable, sound and sustainable China-US relationship is in the interests of both countries and meets the expectations of the international community,” Qinjian said.
Qinjian, however, observed that his country is looking forward to enhancing “cooperation with other countries to safeguard the multilateral trading system, oppose unilateralism and protectionism, and promote universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization.”
“What the US side has done is a typical act of unilateralism and bullying in disregard of facts,” China’s commerce ministry spokesperson was reported saying by Xinhua.
The Chinese commerce ministry spokesperson rejected US claims about his country’s failure to control the flow of fentanyl into North America, stating that such accusations were used as a pretext to launch the tariff war. He emphasized that China already has a rigorous anti-drug policy in place and maintains extensive and successful cooperation with the US on the issue.
Lin Jian, spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the press last week that his country has provided extensive support to the US over the issue of fentanyl on humanitarian grounds, achieving very positive results. He added that Trump’s use of the issue reflects a desperate attempt to blackmail China, which will only prove counterproductive to anti-drug measures.
Replying to a question about US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s comments accusing China of trying to flood the US with fentanyl, Lin Jian said the remarks reflect a “cold war mentality” that seeks “containment, suppression and blame shifting”.
