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China, accusing the Trump administration of launching "the biggest trade war in economic history," filed suit with the WTO on Friday to challenge the entry into force of US tariffs 25% of 34 billion Chinese imports.
punitive tariffs Beijing had promised "not to shoot first" but had warned that "to defend the fundamental interests of the country and its people", she would be forced
US products After announcing the immediate implementation of customs duties of 25% on an "equal" amount of US products, the Ministry of Commerce announced Friday the appeal to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
This is the second complaint in the important commercial dispute with Washington since the Asian giant has already challenged the imposition in March of punitive 25% taxes on steel and 10% on aluminum.
The new US tariffs officially entered into force at midnight Washington time (0400 GMT), affecting 818 Chinese products including automobiles, hard disks and aircraft components.
A second batch of taxes on 16 billion imports will enter into force soon, said Thursday Donald Trump, referring to a period of "two weeks."
"Buy Chinese"
In total, it is $ 50 billion of annual Chinese imports that will be affected by the US measures to compensate for what the Trump administration considers to be the "theft" of ownership Intellectual Property and Technology by China.
The United States should not stop there because Donald Trump could increase to 450 billion the value of Chinese products taxed, the vast majority of imports from the Asian giant (505.6 billions of dollars in 2017.
Paradoxically, it was these same trade tensions that brought down the US trade deficit in May to 43.1 billion, its lowest level since October 2016.
The prospect of new taxes pushed soybean exports to China by nearly 90%.
"The deficit is expected to decline further in June before a likely sharp rebound in July when exports of The soybeans are going to plummet, "said Ian Shepherdson, an economist at Pantheon Macro.
For months now, the prospect of a trade war has raised the specter of a halt to trade in goods across the globe, the current drivers of
Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang, currently in Bulgaria, warned on Friday that "a trade war does not benefit anyone."
In the streets of Beijing, consumers were worried about a possible higher prices following taxes on US products. However, they say they are in solidarity with the authorities.
"I will do my best to buy Chinese", so told AFP Mr. Yang, a customer of a Beijing supermarket.
On the American side, the federation of retailers claimed that several products sold in the United States could see their prices rise, "the students having to pay more for the mini-refrigerator they will need at the university in the autumn".
What consequences?
This confrontation with Beijing is far from isolated. Since the beginning of the year, Donald Trump has increased the protectionist measures against its trading partners and allies, causing exasperation and concern.
The White House also imposes since June 1 tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum from Canada, the European Union, Mexico or Russia that brought the case to the WTO.
In the wake of these same countries, Moscow announced Friday the introduction of surcharges on a series of US products in response to customs barriers imposed on steel and aluminum.
The majority of experts warn of the potential damage of such a policy, not just on the US economy, but also the global economy
US companies said they were already feeling the impact with rising prices. Others have expressed fears about their market shares in China.
These warnings have left marble behind Mr. Trump, who had 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.
On the Chinese side, "the trade war will slow down Chinese GDP growth of 0.2 percentage point "in 2018, said a senior official of the Central Bank, however, judging the impact" limited. "
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