Trump counterattacks Chinese tariffs with new sanctions
The United States fights back China’s hit on Monday as part of the trade war that the two great powers of the world have started. In response to the Chinese measures, President Donald Trump announced the application of 25% tariffs on imports of Chinese goods for 50,000 million dollars to sanction the alleged stealing of US technology by Beijing.
A list of 1,300 Chinese products will be affected by the new measures, according to the Office of the US Trade Representative. On this occasion, Trump has faced directly the situation and will establish a period for public comment on these tariffs that should end on May 11.
The head of state of the most powerful nation in the world intends to stop the stealing of technological secrets and the transfer of technology that, according to him, China has attained by creating pressure on North American companies in which they have invested. The industrial robots and telecommunications equipment will be among the commercial branches that the US president intends to penalize. According to the announcement, companies and consumers will have the opportunity to lobby for some products to be removed from the list or to be included.
Although this time Donald Trump has been more cautious, the escalation of the trade war could continue to undermine the world economy and especially that one of the United States. Wall Street already speaks for itself, with the fall of several indicators, in addition to the uncertainty that is spreading among investors. Moreover, China could raise the sanctions on US products, bad news for the United States that is still recovering from its last crisis while the Chinese have experienced a discreet but ostensible economic growth. China applied taxes on US products for 3,000 million dollars, responding to the United States imposition of tariffs on steel and aluminum. Trump's taxes not only affected the Chinese, but also its major trading partners such as Canada. In fact, the Asian giant was by far the most affected.
So far, China has condemned through its chancery the folly of President Donald Trump folly and his advisors. The Chinese consider futile and useless these escalating commercial aggressions that in the end will affect the interests of both nations. Although China has not ruled on how it will respond, it is likely to answer back again. Ironically, the Asian country, besides having part of the US public debt reflected in bonds of the Department of the Treasury, is the investment support of many American companies.
The United States state these measures are part of the nation’s strategy to stop the Chinese to become technological leaders. The American government has elaborated a long list of possible products to sanction so American consumers do not suffer the consequences but those imports that benefit from the advantageous policies of Beijing in the technological field. Nevertheless, economic analysts fear this trade war. According to Rod Hunter, from Baker & McKenzie LLP, in a business of 50,000 million dollars someone will inevitably lose.
John Frisbie commented that "unilateral tariffs could do more harm than good and are of little use to address problems in China's policies." Protests from several political and economic sectors have begun to take place. Even American technology companies that have partnerships with Chinese companies have censored Trump’s new measures.