The surtax imposed by the United States on Chinese goods under the third list of Section 301 has increased from 10% to 25%. The increase, which was scheduled to take place on January 1, 2019, had been extended to March 1, 2019, as China and the United States were in negotiations to find a trade agreement.
In the absence of an agreement between both parties, President Trump recently decided to take action and proceed with raising the surtax on May 10, 2019.
You can see the announcement by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative by clicking here.
Last year, the U.S. government had also issued prior to this third list, two other lists totalling approximately $50 billion in Chinese goods that are also subject to a 25% surtax.
Negotiations continue
At the same time as this surtax increase, Chinese Vice Premier, Liu He, went to Washington on May 9 and 10 to continue negotiations in an attempt to reach a trade agreement with the United States. It should be recalled that ten negotiating sessions have already taken place between both parties.
Strangely, both countries seemed ready to enter into an agreement before President Trump declared raising the surtax. The U.S. president justified this increase by mentioning that China had backtracked on some of the points already discussed during the negotiating sessions.
If negotiations do not reach a conclusion soon, President Trump intends to apply a surtax on an additional $320 billion worth of Chinese imports.
China’s response
Following the announcement by President Trump, the Chinese government has said it would have to take "necessary counter-measures." This is what it did recently by announcing that it would increase, as of June 1, tariffs on $60 billion worth of U.S. products.
To learn more about the trade dispute between the United States and China, we invite you to read the following article: Where is the trade dispute between China and the United States at?
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To find out more:
Agence France-Presse (August 7, 2018). “Tarifs douaniers contre la Chine :Washington revient à la charge.“ On the ici.radio-canada.ca. website
Agence France-Presse (May 13,2019).“Commerce : la Chine réplique aux États-Unis avec des droits de douane punitifs.”On the journaldemontreal.com website.
Gazzane, Hayat.(May 9,2019) “Guerre commerciale : négociations de la dernière chance entre Chine et États-Unis.”On the lefigaro.fr. website
Le Monde with AFP and Reuteurs (May 10, 2019).“La Chine et les États-Unis se rendent coup pour coup dans leur guerre commerciale.”Sur le site lemonde.fr.
Paris Match (May 7, 2019).“Commerce : le négociateur chinois Liu He sera à Washington jeudi et vendredi.”On the lemonde.fr website.