Civic Register
| 3.22.18

China Slaps Tariffs on 128 U.S. Goods

Join us and tell your reps how you feel!

UPDATE - April 2, 2018: China has announced it is retaliating for the Trump administration's steel and aluminum tariffs by imposing its own import taxes on 128 American-made products, affecting over $3 billion in exports.

  • Beijing is imposing a 15 percent tariff on 120 U.S. goods, including fruit and nuts.

  • A duty of 25 percent will placed on pork, recycled aluminum, and an additional 6 products.

  • China rejects President Donald Trump's claim that the steel and aluminum tariffs are necessary to protect national security, and said the duties violate World Trade Organization rules. Beijing argued its tariffs, however, represent "legitimate measures…to use the rules of the [WTO] and safeguard its interests."

Countable's original story appears below.

Trump Hits China with Tariffs, China Hits Back

What’s the story?

  • President Donald Trump announced a plan to impose tariffs of up to $60 billion on Chinese goods.

  • Trump said the tariffs are meant to punish Beijing for intellectual property theft and pressuring companies to share their technology in order to do business in the country.

  • Officials in China are "are preparing to respond with their own tariffs focused on U.S. exports of soybeans, sorghum and live hogs," according to the Wall Street Journal (paywall).

Why does it matter?

  • Trump signed a presidential memorandum directing Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to draw up a list of Chinese products that could be slapped with tariff increases. The final list will be published in 15 days, following a public comment period.

  • "We’re doing things for this country that should have been done for many, many years," the president said.

  • "Our view is that we have a very serious problem of losing our intellectual property, which is really the biggest single advantage of the American economy in my opinion," Lighthizer said earlier this week.

  • The Journal, citing people with knowledge of the matter, wrote that "China’s potential retaliation is calibrated to hit states that helped elect Donald Trump in 2016…Trump won eight of the top 10 soy and hog-producing states, and seven of the top 10 sorghum states."

  • 25 large retail companies - including Costco, Target, and Walmart – are urging Trump to reconsider imposing tariffs on goods imported from China.

What do you think?

Will the tariffs do "things for this country that should have been done for many, many years"? Or will they hurt more Americans than Chinese? Are there companies you’d like to see on – or off – the list? Hit Take Action and tell your reps, then share your thoughts below.

—Josh Herman

Related Reading

(Photo Credit: ByoungJoo / iStock)