China Slaps New Tariffs on 128 US Products

Beijing says it's payback for Trump tariffs
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 2, 2018 2:57 AM CDT
China Slaps New Tariffs on 128 US Products
American strawberries on sale in Beijing. Apples, pears, oranges, cherries, peaches, lemons, and plums are also affected.   (AP Photo/California Strawberry Commission, Mark Murai)

China has made good on its threat to retaliate for President Trump's new tariffs on steel and aluminum. Beijing says it is slapping new tariffs on 128 kinds of American products, including pork, wine, and numerous kinds of fruit, "in order to safeguard China's interests and balance the losses caused by the United States' additional tariffs," reports the Financial Times. The move adds a 25% tariff on top of existing duties to American scrap aluminum and frozen pork, the BBC reports. It also adds a 15% tariff to American wine, nuts, ginseng, apples, oranges, and scores of other food products, affecting goods worth a total of around $3 billion.

China's Ministry of Commerce said it has suspended its World Trade Organization obligations after US moves that "seriously infringed on China's rights and interests," the Telegraph reports. Trump, who accuses Beijing of abusive trade practices and theft of intellectual property, has threatened more tariffs, and analysts fear the trade war could escalate. "There are plenty more American companies to be hit, and other nations, especially those in Europe and Asia, could soon find themselves dragged into this conflict," notes Stephen McDonell at the BBC. Beijing has yet to say how it might respond to the 25% tariffs Trump has proposed on almost $50 billion of Chinese goods in a dispute over technology licensing, the AP reports. (More China stories.)

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