China is moving slowly in the implementation of retaliatory tariffs as trade tensions with the U.S. escalate. The Chinese government pushed ahead Sunday with increased duties of between 5% and 10% on a variety of major American goods exported to China, including soybeans and crude oil.
However, the proportion of tariffs that kicked in on Sunday only account for about one third of the more than 5,000 product lines listed in the latest announcement. The majority of the duties will take effect Dec. 15, and China’s plans to reinstate tariffs on U.S. autos and auto parts will also not take place until that time.
A report by supply chain data company Panjiva -part of S&P Global Market Intelligence- pointed out that the products in the Sept. 1 group may have been chosen since those items saw some recovery in shipments rather than further decline. The Aug. 27 analysis pointed out that U.S. exports in the Sept. 1 group fell by 15.2% in the second quarter from a year ago, versus a drop of 20.4% for the Dec. 15 group.
The increases are part of the Ministry of Finance’s Aug. 23 announcement for retaliatory tariffs on $75 billion worth of U.S. goods. A portion of president Trump’s latest tariff increases also took effect Sunday.
Essentially, all $550 billion worth of Chinese exports to the U.S. are set to be subject to duties when another round is implemented in December.
A variety of studies suggest the tariffs will cost U.S. households up to $1,000 a year and the latest round will hit a significant number of U.S. consumer goods.
