WASHINGTON D.C. : The US vowed to maintain high tariffs on China hours after Beijing warned against any future hikes, as Donald Trump’s sweeping levies return to the spotlight before his meeting with Xi Jinping.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Wednesday that Trump wants to keep tariffs on China steady at a range of 35% to 50%, while repeating earlier statements that the Supreme Court’s decision to invalidate broad emergency tariffs wouldn’t affect most levies.
“We expect that level to remain in place,” Greer said on Fox Business. “We don’t intend to escalate beyond that. We intend to really stick to the deal that we had before.”
Earlier the same day, China threatened to take “all necessary measures” if the US imposed fresh tariffs, after Washington signaled a probe into their 2020 trade deal would continue. Beijing reiterated it wants to use the existing consultation mechanism to build consensus.
Trump is slated to land in Beijing on March 31 to discuss with Xi an extension to their nations’ tariff truce, in the first trip to China by an American president since his last visit in 2017. The Supreme Court ruling has brought fresh confusion over that detente and undercut some of the Republican leader’s leverage, leaving both sides jockeyingfor advantage and brandishing possible tools.
If tensions spiral, China could again restrict rare earth exports, while Washington has leverage over its advantage in chip design software, jet engines and spare airplane parts. Both sides have been trying to avoid another escalation, with Trump’s State of the Union speech this week marking the first time in two decades a US president didn’t directly mention China.
The Supreme Court ruling eliminated Trump’s second-term levies on China and left Beijing facing the same 15% global fee applied to many US allies. Economists including Morgan Stanley now estimate the average US tariff on China stands at 24%, whereas Greer on Sunday put the rate at 40%, without elaborating on the breakdown.
The US is currently undertaking an investigation into the trade deal from Trump’s first term, which saw China promise to buy hundreds of billions of dollars more in US exports. According to Bloomberg calculations, Beijing only purchased about 60% of those products.
China’s Commerce Ministry said Beijing had honored the “Phase One” agreement despite the pandemic disruption and complied with pledges it made on intellectual property as well as the opening of financial and agricultural markets.
It also accused the US of undermining implementation by tightening export controls, restricting two-way investment and expanding other curbs that it said obstruct normal trade and investment, adding that a 2025 white paper set out its case.
“If the US insists on pushing forward with relevant investigations — or even uses the investigation as a pretext to introduce restrictive measures such as tariffs — China will take all necessary measures to resolutely defend its legitimate rights,” the ministry said.
This report is auto-generated from Bloomberg news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
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