China has responded to President Donald Trump’s tariffs by imposing its own set of tariffs on U.S. goods, escalating tensions amid a potential trade war.
Announced by China’s Finance Ministry, the new measures include a 15 percent tariff on certain types of coal and liquefied natural gas, and a 10 percent tariff on crude oil, agricultural machinery, large-displacement cars, and pickup trucks.
In addition, China’s Commerce Ministry and Customs Administration have stated that the country is implementing export controls on materials such as tungsten, tellurium, ruthenium, and molybdenum to protect national security interests.
China has also launched an investigation into Google for possible anti-trust violations, though the details of the probe remain unclear. These tariffs are set to take effect next Monday.
This move comes after Trump imposed a 10 percent tariff on all Chinese imports to the U.S. A White House spokesperson indicated that Trump would not meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping until later in the week.
The trade conflict dates back to 2018, when Trump initiated a harsh two-year trade war with China, aiming to address the U.S.’s large trade deficit with the country. The dispute led to retaliatory tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of goods, disrupting global supply chains and affecting the world economy.
In 2020, China agreed to increase its purchase of U.S. goods by an additional $200 billion per year as part of an agreement to end the trade war, but this plan was derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Last month, Chinese customs data showed that its annual trade deficit had grown to $361 billion.
Oxford Economics, in its updated China economic growth forecast, warned that the trade war is still in its early stages, and the possibility of further tariffs remains high.
Trump has also threatened to increase tariffs on China unless the country takes action to halt the flow of fentanyl, a deadly opioid, into the U.S. “China hopefully is going to stop sending us fentanyl, and if they’re not, the tariffs are going to go substantially higher,” Trump said on Monday.
