WORLD NEWS – China counters U.S. with “boatload” of tariffs on U.S. products

Laila Kirkpatrick, Staff Writer

China has announced that it will be employing retaliatory tariffs on select American imports in addition to an antitrust investigation into Google. These tariffs and investigation were announced Tuesday just minutes after a sweeping levy on Chinese products imposed by President Trump went into effect. American tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico were set to go into effect on Tuesday before Trump agreed to a temporary 30-day pause as the two countries acted to address his concerns about border security and drug trafficking. Trump made plans to talk with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the coming days. White House press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated, “It is being scheduled and will happen very soon.” 

This isn’t the first time that tariffs have been exchanged between the U.S. and China. China and the U.S. first engaged in an escalating trade war in 2018 when Trump raised the tariffs on Chinese goods and China responded each time with its retaliatory tariffs. This time economic analysts stated that China was much better prepared and announced a slew of measures that go beyond tariffs and will cut across numerous economic sectors in the U.S. The government is also more wary of upsetting its own fragile and trade-dependent economy.  Gary Ng, a senior economist at Natixis Corporate and Investment Baking in Hong Kong stated, “It’s aiming for finding measures that minimize the impact and also minimize the risk that the Chinese economy may face.” Ng, went on to say, “ At the same time … China is trying to increase its bargaining chips.” John Gong, a professor at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing stated that the response was “measured” and stated, “I don’t think they want the trade war escalating.” He went on to say, “And they see this example from Canada and Mexico and probably they are hoping for the same thing.”