Trade war, the tension rises a notch between China and the United States

The United States has fired a new salvo in the trade war with China by compiling an additional list of Chinese products imported in the amount of $ 200 billion a year. threaten to tax in September.

"For more than a year, the Trump administration has patiently called on China to end its unfair practices, open its markets and engage in competition based on market forces " US Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer said in a statement Tuesday, July 10.

" Unfortunately, China has not changed its behavior (…) and it threatens the future of the US economy. Rather than responding to our legitimate concerns, China has begun to retaliate against US products. Such actions are unjustifiable " he accused.

Due to legal processes and consultation, these taxes can not come into effect until September if the United States decides to go after Trump's administration officials told the press on Tuesday.

"Irrational" behavior

For its part, China on Wednesday (July 11th) accused the United States of wanting "to destroy trade between the two countries. Beijing warned it would be forced to take retaliatory measures after Washington's new threats.

In a statement, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce called the measures of "totally unacceptable" and that the "irrational" behavior of the United States harmed "China, the world, and themselves" .

However, these additional taxes do not constitute surprise because the US president had warned that he would do so if Beijing opted for escalation after the implementation last week of the first US $ 34 billion protectionist measures.

Understanding the "trade war" led by Donald Trump

But the initiative announced Tuesday, which provides for the introduction of tariffs of 10% on the targeted products, triggers the process that will lead to their application. if the two world economic powers do not find a common ground by then.

Beijing had accused Washington last week, after the first wave of US measures, of having triggered "the greatest commercial war of economic history ". In total, it is 250 billion Chinese products imported into the United States would be affected, 16 billion to be added to the original 34 billion and then the 200 billion announced Tuesday. Donald Trump has already threatened not to stop there and to hit more than 400 billion Chinese imports.

Trump directly accuses China of "theft"

As a whole, they represented $ 505 billion in 2017 and the balance of trade between the two countries last year resulted in a deficit of $ 375 billion at the expense of the United States. Added taxes of 10% on imports of aluminum and 25% on steel for China and other countries.

Washington accuses since last summer Beijing of « forced technology transfers " by forcing American companies that want to sell in China to create joint ventures that force them to find Chinese partners, the latter taking advantage of American technology. Trump administration directly accuses China of "theft" and asks it to further open its market by ending customs and legal barriers.

Donald Trump seeks to divide Europeans on the automobile

Specifically, the administration will now organize hearings and inquiries concerning the impact of these additional tariffs which will target, among others, products such as fish, tires, leather goods, cheese, wood, paper and chemicals. The process will take up to two months and will be accompanied by hearings that will enable the sectors concerned to argue for or against the imposition of these new tariffs.

The dispute over intellectual property with China is that one of the fronts opened by Donald Trump in his protectionist offensive. In addition to the steel and aluminum taxes that apply to virtually all US trading partners, he is considering tackling the auto sector by including German imports.

also launched a renegotiation process for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) uniting the United States, Canada and Mexico, but the discussions have not yet resulted in an agreement.

The Cross (with AFP)