The trade conflict between the United States and China is escalating. On Sunday, September 1, the increased rates of import duties on goods from the PRC, which were previously introduced by the White House, came into force, totaling 125 billion US dollars. This was announced today at the office of US Trade Representative Robert Lighthyser.
A 15 percent increase in customs duties in the United States, in particular, will cover many types of shoes produced in the PRC, as well as Bluetooth headphones and smart speakers.
From December 15 this year, it is planned that the import duty rates in the United States will increase on notebooks, game consoles, mobile phones and smartphones, toys and clothing manufactured in China by another 15 percent for a total of $ 175 billion. In general, increased import duties will be levied on thousands of Chinese-made goods totaling $ 300 billion, ranging from food (ketchups, cheeses and sausages) to bicycles, golf clubs, sports shoes and furniture.
In addition, since October 1, the previously introduced 25 percent customs duties on Chinese imports worth $ 250 billion will rise to 30 percent.
China responded with mirror measures
Since September 1, China has begun to impose increased duties on certain groups of American goods totaling $ 75 billion. The PRC introduced additional 5- and 10-percent import duties on some items of commodity imports from the United States, in particular on oil and fuel.
From December 15, it is planned to further expand the range of American merchandise imports, which will be subject to increased import duties in Beijing.
At the same time, the Chinese state media urged Washington to "learn to behave like a responsible global player" and stop the behavior of the "school bully", noting that US duties do not harm the PRC economy. However, according to statistics, the Chinese industry has seen a slowdown in growth for the fourth month in a row.
Recall that US President Donald Trump has more than once accused other countries, in particular China, of using the United States for their own purposes during bilateral trade, allegedly causing billions of dollars in losses to the American economy and taxpayers every year.
It was China that Trump presented such dishonest trading practices as currency manipulation, strong government support for Chinese exporters, intellectual property infringement, coercion of Western companies to transfer technology and unequal working conditions for foreign companies in the Chinese market compared to local ones.
The last trade talks between the US and China in July ended without concrete results, but the parties agreed to further negotiations in September.
