US tariffs against China became effective

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US tariffs against China became effective

July 06, 2018 - 10:47
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US tariffs to $34 billion of Chinese imports became effective today, Reuters reports. Since Beijing promised to take counter steps immediately, then two countries got closer to open trade conflict.

Photo © Gerd Altmann, CC0 1.0

US tariffs to $34 billion of Chinese imports became effective today, Reuters reports. Since Beijing promised to take counter steps immediately, then two countries got closer to open trade conflict.

Right after tariffs deadline China’s Ministry of Commerce announced that it will have to answer and apply duties to $34 billion American goods, including automobiles and agricultural products. Ministry also called US action a violation of global trade rules.

On Thursday President Trump said that at the end tariffs will cover $500 billion of Chinese goods, which represents roughly all volume of import from this country.

While initial tariffs “exchange” most likely will not have immediate economic impact, further escalation will hurt producers and importers of related products, global trade, investments and growth as a whole.

Experts predict that companies that were subject to tariffs will try to raise prices as much as possible and increase sales in origin country.

On Thursday Ford Motor Co informed that it is not going to increase prices on its luxe model Lincoln imported into China and having high margin.

US customs authorities are getting ready to impose duties on such goods as automobiles, computer hard disks, printers and others. Consumer products, such as cell phones and footwear will be exempted from tariffs.

China duties will involve hundreds of American products, including such top exporters as soy beans and cotton, which will hurt farmers in the US.