Topline
Officials in Canada and China announced retaliatory action early on Tuesday as President Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on all imports from Canada and Mexico, along with an additional 10% levy on Chinese goods, went into effect after midnight.
President Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on all Canadian and Mexican imports went into effect at … [+]
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In response to what is now a 20% tariff on all Chinese goods—Tuesday’s 10% plus the 10% levy imposed last month by the White House—Beijing announced 10-15% increases in import duties on several key American agricultural and food products and expanded export controls on 15 U.S. firms.
China’s finance ministry said an additional 15% tariff will be imposed on U.S. chicken, wheat, corn and cotton imports, while U.S. soybeans, sorghum, pork, beef, aquatic products, fruits and vegetables and dairy imports will face an additional 10% levy—both of which will go into effect on March 10.
In a separate announcement, China’s ministry of commerce announced it was expanding its export controls on dual use items—which can be used for both civilian and military purposes—to target several U.S. defense contractors, including Leidos, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems and General Dynamics Land Systems.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his country will respond to Trump’s tariffs with 25% retaliatory duties against CAD 155 billion ($107 billion) of American goods.
Trudeau said tariffs on CAD 30 billion ($20.7 billion) worth of goods will go into effect immediately and tariffs on the remaining CAD 125 billion ($86.3 billion) American products will go into effect in 21 days—and both will remain in place “until the U.S. trade action is withdrawn.”
Earlier on Monday, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said “composure, serenity, and patience” was needed and her country has a “Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, and even Plan D” in place, without offering much detail about the contingency plans.
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What Has Beijing Said About The Latest Tariffs?
“The US’s unilateral tariff increase damages the multilateral trading system, increases the burden on US companies and consumers, and undermines the foundation of economic and trade cooperation between China and the US,” the Chinese Finance Ministry said in its announcement. Later in day, during the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s daily press conference, spokesperson Lin Jian said: “If the United States… persists in waging a tariff war, a trade war, or any other kind of war, the Chinese side will fight them to the bitter end.”
What Have Canadian Leaders Said About The Tariffs?
Trudeau called the tariffs measures “unjustified” and added: “Because of the tariffs imposed by the U.S., Americans will pay more for groceries, gas, and cars, and potentially lose thousands of jobs. Tariffs will disrupt an incredibly successful trading relationship. They will violate the very trade agreement that was negotiated by President Trump in his last term.” In his announcement the Canadian prime minister also warned that if the levies are not lifted, his government is in discussion with provincial and regional authorities “to pursue several non-tariff measures.”
Tangent
In addition to the retaliatory tariffs and export controls, Chinese authorities also announced they were banning imports of genetic sequencing machines made by U.S. biotech firm Illumina. The ban comes almost a month after Illumina was added to an “unreliable entity list” along with Calvin Klein parent company PVH Group. At the time, Beijing accused the companies of “cutting normal transactions with Chinese enterprises and adopting discriminatory measures against Chinese firms.” The commerce ministry also announced the addition of 10 other U.S. firms to its unreliable entities list, including America’s largest military shipbuilder, Huntington Ingalls Industries. In a separate announcement, China’s customs agency said it was halting the imports of logs from the U.S., claiming that recent shipments have been infested with pests like worms and fungi. Imports of soybeans from three U.S. companies, CHS Inc, Louis Dreyfus Company Grains Merchandising LLC and EGT, have also been halted.
Further Reading
Trump Confirms 25% Tariffs On Canada And Mexico Will Start Tomorrow—Here’s How They Could Impact Prices (Forbes)
Read the full article here
