Trade war reloaded: China strikes back with tariffs on US imports!

Trade war reloaded: China strikes back with tariffs on US imports!

In a drastic move, the Chinese government has announced that it will impose additional tariffs on numerous US agricultural products from March 10th. As the Beijing Ministry of Commerce announced, an additional 15 percent tariffs will be imposed on chicken, wheat, corn and cotton. Other products such as soybeans, pork and beef are subject to an additional 10 percent tariff. The move comes in response to US President Donald Trump's recently ordered tariff hikes, which doubled import tariffs on goods from China from 10 to 20 percent. The increase took effect at midnight and was justified as a response to the ongoing smuggling of the Chinese-made drug fentanyl into the United States, as reported The press reported.

The trade conflict between the world's two largest economies is entering a new round that is reminiscent of the escalations of 2018. Trump justifies his measures with China's “unilateral” behavior, which, in his opinion, undermines the “multilateral system of world trade”. China responded by threatening to add more U.S. companies to a list of unreliable entities, which could impose restrictions or even a ban on them doing business in China. In addition to the new tariffs on agricultural products, Beijing had already announced tariffs on coal and liquid natural gas from the USA, further inflaming tensions between the two countries vienna.at informed.

The US government had already imposed tariffs on all imports from China at the beginning of February, prompting Beijing to impose counter tariffs of 15 percent on certain products. Both countries are once again on the threshold of a comprehensive trade war, as was the case during Trump's first term in office. Mutual protection through tariffs not only burdens China's export economy, but also threatens the competitiveness of Chinese goods in the US market and increases uncertainties in global trade.