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China Hits Back Against Latest Proposal for Section 301 Tariffs

August 3, 2018 |Top News

China responded to proposed U.S. tariffs on $200 billion worth of goods under Section 301 with a new tariff threat of its own on Aug. 3. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced plans to add tariffs of between 5 percent and 25 percent on 5,207 items, said to account for about $60 billion worth of goods from the U.S. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is considering imposing tariffs of 25 percent on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods (see 1808010070). "The US measures have deviated from the consensus of the two sides, leading to an escalation of trade friction between China and the United States, serious violations of relevant rules of the World Trade Organization, and damage to our national interests and people's interests," the Ministry of Commerce said, according to an unofficial translation.

China released four lists of goods: one for new 25 percent tariffs, one for new 20 percent tariffs, one for new 10 percent tariffs and one for new 5 percent tariffs. Among the items being targeted by the Chinese are wood products, alcoholic drinks, coffee, liquified natural gas and leather goods. Implementation dates "will be announced separately," it said. Chemicals were again caught by the tariffs, said the American Chemistry Council. "According to analysis by the American Chemistry Council’s economics and statistics department, out of the 5,207 products across the 4 Chinese tariff lists, 999 are chemicals and plastic products. Thus, nineteen percent (19%) of all of the products listed are chemicals and plastic products," the group said in a news release.

While the translated version of the announcement mentions "items for the United States and Canada" within the titles of the four lists, a spokesman for the Chinese embassy said that's a mistranslation. A spokesman for the Canadian embassy said, "given the importance of our trading relationship with both the U.S. and China, we are monitoring developments closely, including identifying any potential impacts on Canadian interests." Subsequently, the Canadian spokesperson said "we have confirmation now that the draft Chinese lists are not targeting Canada."

List of Goods Subject to 25% tariffs:

The 8-digit subheadings for the list goods subject to 25 percent tariffs fall in the following Harmonized Tariff Schedule chapters and headings (note that not all subheadings would necessarily be covered in the headings listed below):

(See 1808060006 for coverage of the list of goods subject to 20 percent tariffs, 1808070020 for coverage of the list of goods subject to 10 percent tariffs and 1808080012 for coverage of the list of goods subject to 5 percent tariffs.)