China implemented retaliatory tariffs on US agricultural products yesterday, imposing levies between 10 and 15 percent on items such as soybeans, chicken, and fruit.
The escalation in the US-China trade war aims to impact President Trump’s rural support base by reducing the competitiveness of their exports in the Chinese market, according to the Financial Times.
The action followed Trump’s decision last week to add an extra 10 percent tariff on all Chinese imports, resulting in a cumulative 20 percent duty increase since he took office earlier this year.
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China’s Foreign Ministry has called the US approach, which Trump claims is intended to compel Beijing to better control drug flows across its border, “a miscalculation and a mistake.”
China’s list of US exports targeted by the new tariffs includes approximately US$19 billion worth at the 10 percent rate and US$3 billion worth at the 15 percent rate, covering 740 items. Additionally, Beijing has suspended US timber imports due to recent infestations of bark and longhorn beetles. Last year, US exporters sent about US$850 million worth of logs to China.
Ting Lu, chief China economist at Nomura, stated that Beijing’s response was “relatively measured compared with the actions from the US.”
