Impossible for China to give in under US 10% tariffs threat: experts

Source:Global Times Published: 2019/8/2 10:01:40 Last Updated: 2019/8/2 13:04:19

The new threat of 10 percent tariffs on Chinese goods is the Trump administration repeating a bully tactic, aiming to place ultimate pressure on China, which also shows that the Trump administration is getting anxious to reach deal with China, experts said on Friday.

China is likely to have further measures to fight back, including an unreliable entity list that is being mulled, they said.

The surprise tariff announcement came after the two countries restarted trade consultations in Shanghai on Wednesday, the first round since talks fell apart in May.

"The US will start, on September 1, putting a small additional tariff of 10 percent on the remaining $300 billion of goods and products coming from China into our country," Trump said in a tweet. 

This does not include the $250 billion already tariffed at 25 percent, he said.

The US sought to press China during the preparation period for the next round of trade talks, which both countries confirmed will continue in Washington in early September, experts said, noting it is "impossible" for China to give in.

"Imposing an extra 10 percent in tariffs is another tool to place ultimate pressure on China," said Wang Xiaosong, a professor from the Renmin University of China.

Trump is not happy with the progress of trade talks as they are not as fast as he expected, but the Chinese government has its pace, and cannot work the way the US wants, he added. 

China is likely to have more measures to fight back and the unreliable entity list could be an important tool, he noted.

Chinese purchases of US farm goods remained a concern during the trade dispute as Trump tweeted that China agreed to buy "in large quantities, but did not do so." 

The White House called the talks in Shanghai "constructive," saying China confirmed its commitment to buy more US agricultural products.

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce confirmed Thursday that millions of tons of US soybeans have been shipped to China since July 19, and many firms have made orders for US soybeans, cotton, pork and sorghum.

Adding 10 percent further tariffs is just a gesture to show Trump is not satisfied with the result of the latest round of trade talks, including the fact that the agricultural purchasing sum from China did not meet his demand. The 10 percent tariff has no great impact on Chinese export companies as it can be digested easily, Gao Lingyun, an expert from Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Friday.

"Trump is really getting anxious to reach deal with China, and the ball is in China's court now," he noted.

Trump's threat of new tariffs brought a big hit to the global market, adding increased instability and uncertainties, and would further harm the world economy, said expertsUS stocks tumbled on Thursday, after a big surge earlier in the day.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 280.85 points lower at 26,583.42 and the S&P 500 ended down 0.9 percent at 2,953.56 after rallying more than 1 percent. The NASDAQ Composite closed down 0.8 percent at 8,111.12.



Posted in: ECONOMY

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