2024-04-28 21:15:33
Biden confronts “three-fold increase in steel, etc.”
China stipulates first bill to strengthen reciprocity
Reigniting trade war through tariffs
Blinken: “Pressing China to talk to North Korea”
On the 26th, China revised its customs law, saying, “If a country that has signed a trade agreement with China violates the agreement and imposes tariffs, equivalent tariffs will be imposed.” This law, which will take effect in December, is interpreted as a countermeasure against the US administration of Joe Biden, which recently announced that it would triple tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum.
On the day that U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, China sent a warning message that it would respond to the U.S. tariff increase with “retaliatory tariffs.” This is not unrelated to the fact that President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, who will face each other in the US presidential election in November, are claiming that they will impose high tariffs on China if they return to power. While the United States and China are expanding the scope of their technology war, including semiconductors, the trade war over tariffs, which had been at a truce for a while, appears to be intensifying ahead of the U.S. presidential election.
● China stipulates ‘retaliatory tariffs’ for the first time in history
On this day, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (National People’s Congress), China’s equivalent of the National Assembly, passed Article 17 of the new Customs Law, which strengthens the principle of reciprocity. The key is to allow China to impose equal tariffs on products from countries that have imposed high tariffs on China even though they have signed a trade agreement with China. Reuters reported that this is the first time that this principle of ‘retaliatory tariffs’ has been enshrined in Chinese law.
The United States signed a phase 1 trade agreement with China in 2020. Accordingly, the United States is expected to be the main target of the new tariff law. Henry Gao, a professor at the Singapore Management University, told Reuters, “It shows that if the other country hits China, China can do the same.” He added, “In that sense, it is a similar measure to a ‘nuclear weapon.’”
Recently, President Biden instructed the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to consider tripling tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum. The law that serves as the basis for this is Article 301 of the U.S. Trade Act, which requires countries to respond to unfair trade practices of other countries with a wide range of retaliatory measures, including tariffs. Former President Trump previously imposed high tariffs on Chinese products based on Article 301 of the Trade Act of 2018. He recently claimed, “If I come back to power, I will impose tariffs of more than 60% on Chinese products.”
Secretary Blinken said at a press conference immediately after meeting with President Xi and Director Wang on the 26th, “I raised concerns about the potential impact of China’s unfair trade practices and overproduction on the U.S. market and the world.” U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also revealed in an interview on the 25th that she was considering ways to deal with China’s overproduction, saying, “No measures have been put down on the table.”
The European Union (EU) is also investigating Chinese-made medical devices, electric vehicles, and solar panels. China is protesting, saying, “The West is exercising protectionism and suppressing China’s development.”
● “China, intervene in North Korea-Russia” vs. “Everyone will be a loser”
On this day, Secretary Blinken pressured China to use its influence to suppress further provocations by North Korea and Russia and take responsibility commensurate with the two major countries (G2). “We recommended that China use its influence to pressure North Korea to end its dangerous behavior and engage in dialogue,” he said at a press conference.
In addition, the United States made it clear that it would strengthen sanctions against China if China continued to provide various types of support to Russia, which invaded Ukraine. Secretary Blinken said, “Russia will struggle in the Ukraine war without China’s support,” and added, “We have made it clear that if China does not resolve this issue, the United States will.” Secretary Yellen also said, “If necessary, we will sanction Chinese banks that support Russia.”
On the other hand, Director Wang countered, saying, “Even as China-US relations are regaining stability, negative factors are piling up,” adding, “If the conflict with the US intensifies, everyone could become a loser.”
Washington = Correspondent Moon Byeong-ki [email protected]
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2024-04-28 21:15:33