How could China hurt the United States once it has missed imports to tax

BEIJING – In his trade war with China, President Donald Trump has an apparent advantage: the United States could eventually impose tariffs on more than $ 500 billion worth of imported Chinese goods. Beijing has much less to tax: it only imported $ 130 billion worth of US goods last year

Yet that hardly means that China would be unable to respond once it's over. she would have missed goods in the United States to penalize them. He has a range of other weapons to inflict suffering on the US economy.

Indeed, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce has warned against "global measures" that it could take against the United States. He gave no details, but possible tactics might include harbading automakers, retailers or other US companies that depend on China for generating revenue by selling US government debt or disrupting it. diplomatic efforts in North Korea

. But Beijing could still be willing to deploy them, at least temporarily, if its trade war with Washington was to last.

On Friday, Washington imposed its first tariffs in response to complaints from Beijing that steals or lobbied companies to send technology to them. China has quickly announced retaliatory tariffs on a similar amount of US goods

A look at some of China's options:

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TARGET AMERICAN COMPANIES

The economy dominated by the State-owned and heavily regulated gives the authorities an arsenal of tools to disrupt US businesses by refusing licenses or launching tax, antimonopoly or other investigations.

Services such as engineering and logistics, in which the United States records a trade surplus, may also be subject to retaliation. The focus is on goods, while China could very well look at the services, as well as the operation of US companies in China, "said Taimur Baig, chief economist of DBS Group. months to find out whether Chinese regulators will accept the $ 44 billion acquisition of NXP Semiconductors

China's state-controlled media have encouraged consumer boycotts against Japanese products, South Korean and others in previous disputes with these governments.

Last year, Beijing destroyed the Korean company Lotte.China sold land in South Korea to the Seoul government for a Missile System Opposed by Chinese Leaders

Beijing shut down most of Lotte's 99 supermarkets and other outlets in China, and Seoul and Beijing later mended their relations but Lotte abandoned and sold his operations in China.

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FINANCIAL LEVERAGE

Nationalists view the $ 1.2 trillion US public debt as a lever. Beijing could suffer losses if it sold enough to influence US debt financing costs – but these sales could become necessary

The Chinese yuan depreciated against the dollar this year, which could force the bank central to intervene in the currency markets. To get the dollars it needs, the People's Bank of China could "become a net seller of US Treasuries," said Carl B. Weinberg of High-Frequency Economics in a report

. China can retaliate against unilateral US tariffs, "said Weinberg.

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DIPLOMATIC PRESSURE

Beijing may seek support from US allies who are harbaded by Trump's US approach and withdrawal Paris Treaty on Climate Change

Trump's unilateral actions have allowed China to position itself as a free trade advocate despite its status as the most closed major economy. "China could find land in agreement with the EU, Canada, Japan and other economies affected by US tariffs, "Citigroup economists said. -Gang Liu, Xiaowen Jin and Xiangrong Yu in a report

Chinese leaders have tried, so far unsuccessfully, to recruit European and other governments as allies

More generally, Chinese commentators have suggested that Beijing could also ber diplomatic relations, working on North Korea's nuclear and missile programs or other initiatives. But political badysts say it could roll back work that Chinese leaders see as a priority.