On February 4, China announced retaliatory tariffs against the United States, reigniting the trade war between the world's two largest economies.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (left) and US President Donald Trump - Photo: AFP
According to Reuters, the additional 10% tariff imposed by President Donald Trump's administration on all imports from China to the US took effect at 0:01 a.m. on February 4, Eastern time.
Within minutes, China's Ministry of Finance announced that the country would impose a 15% tariff on US coal and liquefied natural gas (LNG) and a 10% tariff on crude oil, agricultural equipment and some imported cars.
The ministry said the new tariffs on US goods will begin to be applied on February 10.
Meanwhile, China's Ministry of Commerce and the country's Customs Administration announced that Beijing is imposing export controls on tungsten, tellurium, ruthenium, molybdenum and ruthenium-related items to "safeguard national security interests."
On February 1, President Trump signed an executive order imposing a 25% tariff on goods from Mexico, 25% on most goods from Canada, and an additional 10% on all imports from China, citing the national emergency of the opioid fentanyl and illegal immigration into the United States.
On February 3, Mr. Trump postponed imposing 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada at the last minute, agreeing to suspend the application for 30 days in exchange for concessions on border and crime issues with these two neighboring countries.
But in the case of China, no decision has been made to delay the imposition of tariffs. On February 3, the White House said President Trump would speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping "in the next few days."
China's Ministry of Commerce said the US's imposition of tariffs on Chinese goods "seriously violated" World Trade Organization (WTO) rules. The ministry announced that it would file a complaint against the US at the WTO and take "countermeasures".
US-China trade war developments
During his first term as president in 2018, Mr Trump started a two-year trade war with China, which had a huge trade surplus with Washington.
The two sides have imposed tit-for-tat tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of goods, disrupting global supply chains and damaging the world economy.
To end the trade war, China agreed in 2020 to spend an additional $200 billion a year on American goods. However, this plan was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Data released by Chinese customs last month showed that the US trade deficit with China had increased to $361 billion.
"The trade war is in its early stages, so it is likely that (both sides) will impose additional tariffs," commented economic consultancy Oxford Economics.
Mr Trump warned he could continue to raise tariffs on Chinese goods if Beijing fails to stop the flow of the addictive painkiller fentanyl into the US.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/trung-quoc-ap-thue-tra-dua-my-thoi-bung-thuong-chien-20250204133135642.htm
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