China joins EU, imposes $50bn worth of tariffs on US as trade war looms

A few hours after members of the European Union agreed to impose $3.3bn worth import duties on US products, China has joined the EU in retaliation.

Reports say authorities in China are moving to impose huge tariffs worth $50 billion on the US saying they would impose tariffs of the same ‘scale and strength’.

White House had earlier announced a 25 percent tariff on $50bn worth of Chinese goods over “unfair trade practices”.

The goods targeted by the levies “contain industrially significant technologies”, a White House statement said on Friday.

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“In light of China’s theft of intellectual property and technology and its other unfair trade practices, the United States will implement a 25 percent tariff on $50bn of goods from China that contain industrially significant technologies,” the statement by the White House read.

Beijing responded within minutes to Washington’s announcement, saying they would impose tariff measures “of the same scale and strength”.

“China is unwilling to have a trade war, but the Chinese side has no choice but to strongly oppose this, due to the United States’ myopic behaviour that will harm both parties,” the commerce ministry website said.

The EU had retaliated in kind against the US over its imposition of tariffs last week by unanimously endorsing a plan to impose high import duties on American products.

There is now a looming threat of a global trade war after the move by the EU which is in direct response to Washington’s tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from Canada EU and Mexico.

According to reports the retaliatory tariffs by the EU against the US’ painful duties should be in place by late June or early July even as the “counter-balancing measures” still need to be adopted by the European Commission, whose next meeting is scheduled for June 20.

 

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