FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
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US to impose tariffs on $16 bil. in Chinese imports

US to impose tariffs on $16 bil. in Chinese imports

The United States on Tuesday said it will impose additional 25 percent duties on another $16 billion in Chinese imports starting Aug. 23 in an escalating trade war between the world's two biggest economies.

The action came after President Donald Trump's administration slapped extra 25 percent duties on $34 billion in Chinese imports on July 6 for alleged intellectual property and technology theft. China immediately retaliated with duties on the same value of U.S. goods.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative made the announcement as it published a final tariff list containing 279 import product lines under the administration's Section 301 investigation into Beijing's "unfair" trade practices.

"The Office of the United States Trade Representative today released a list of approximately $16 billion worth of imports from China that will be subject to a 25 percent additional tariff as part of the U.S. response to China's unfair trade practices related to the forced transfer of American technology and intellectual property," it said.

"This second tranche of additional tariffs under Section 301 follows the first tranche of tariffs on approximately $34 billion of imports from China, which went into effect on July 6," it added.

The list, which preserves all but five items from the proposed list announced on June 15, targets Chinese imports such as semiconductor devices and other electronic products as well as chemical and steel products, among others.

USTR Robert Lighthizer said last week he will contemplate more than doubling the proposed tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods to 25 percent as instructed by Trump.

On July 10, the administration said it will impose 10 percent tariffs on an additional $200 billion in Chinese imports as soon as September.

Lighthizer's office released the same day a list of 6,031 items to be subject to the punitive duties -- ranging from consumer goods to farm and fishery products -- in response to China's alleged intellectual property and technology theft.

Earlier, Trump had even said that the United States could ultimately hike tariffs on more than $500 billion in Chinese products -- nearly the total value of U.S. imports from the country last year.

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