04:59 – Washington and Beijing topple Friday into the trade war

Despite alarmist warnings and market nervousness, the United States and China will step into the trade war with the entry into force on Friday of reciprocal customs taxes on tens of billions of dollars

US tariffs of 25% on 34 billion Chinese imports, which will hit 818 products including cars, aircraft components or computer hard drives while sparing popular goods like phones or televisions, will be effective Thursday at midnight.

Immediately thereafter, Chinese taxes on an equivalent amount of US imports will be applied. They will affect agricultural products including soybeans, which are highly dependent on the Chinese market, the automotive sector, and seafood products such as lobsters.

In total, $ 50 billion in Chinese imports will be affected by US measures to compensate for what the Trump administration considers to be the "theft" of intellectual property and technology. The second batch of 16 billion Chinese imports is currently under further review by USTR Robert Lighthizer.

China, which has decided to retaliate with same, also plans to tax a total of $ 50 billion of US imports.

The world's two largest economic powers should not stop there since Donald Trump asked Robert Lighthizer "to identify $ 200 billion Chinese goods for additional tariffs of 10%. "

Added to this is the threat of taxing another $ 200 billion of additional goods" if China increases its tariffs again "in reaction.

These measures could therefore bring to 450 billion the value of Chinese products taxed, almost all imports from the Asian giant (505.6 billion dollars in 2017).

Experts warn for months against the potential damage of such a trade confrontation, not only on the American economy but also on the world economy.

In an badysis published Monday and entitled "the wrong approach" (thewrongapproach), the American Chamber of Commerce thus estimated at "about 75 billion dollars" the amount of American exports so far affected by the retaliation measures of the United States trading partners.

It cites six states (Alabama, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Carolina South, Texas and Wisconsin) who were all in favor of Donald Trump in the last presidential election in 2016.

alarmed –

"The administration threatens to undermine the economic progress it has put so much energy to accomplish," said Tom Donohue, the president of the influential employers' federation, whose headquarters are located not far from the White House. "We must aim for a free and fair trade but that's not how we'll get there," he said.

Companies are also starting to get alarmed by the public Mid Continent Nail Corporation, a hitherto prosperous business employing about 500 people in Poplar Bluff, central United States.

The company, which manufactures nails, may simply have to go out of business because tariffs of 25% on steel imports which forced it to increase its prices to pbad on this extra cost.

For its part, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) once again expressed concerns Tuesday on US policy "that could have adverse effects beyond the economy of the world's leading power, provoking retaliation and undermining a multilateral trading system based on rules of openness and fairness." [19659002] C The warnings, however, leave the American president unmoved, who once again swept the arguments on Tuesday in a tweet.

"The economy is probably doing much better than in the past, before we solve the problem of unfair trade agreements with each country," he said. "A majority of countries agree that they have to change but no one has ever asked for it," he added.

The day before, US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross had, He claimed that the forecast of the coming slowdown in US economic growth was "premature and probably inaccurate."