[The Chinese move appeared to be a warning
shot aimed at increasing domestic pressure on Mr. Trump by making clear which
exporters, including those in farm areas that voted for the president in 2016,
might be hurt.]
By The Associated Press
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Customers
shopping for pork at a supermarket in Beijing on Friday. China
announced a plan to raise tariffs on a $3 billion list of
American
goods, including pork, apples and steel pipes. Credit
Mark Schiefelbein/Associated Pre
|
BEIJING
— China’s newly appointed
economic czar told Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Saturday that Beijing
was ready to defend its interests after President Trump announced plans to slap
tariffs on billions of dollars worth of Chinese imports.
Vice Premier Liu He told Mr. Mnuchin in a
phone call that the order Mr. Trump signed on Thursday violated international
trade rules, China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported.
The White House says the planned tariffs are
intended to punish Beijing for what it depicts as the theft of American
technology.
Xinhua quoted Mr. Liu as saying that China
was “ready and capable of defending its national interest and hopes both sides
will remain rational.”
China said Friday that it planned to raise
tariffs on a $3 billion list of American goods, including pork, apples and
steel pipes in response to the steel and aluminum duties announced earlier by
Mr. Trump.
The Chinese move appeared to be a warning
shot aimed at increasing domestic pressure on Mr. Trump by making clear which
exporters, including those in farm areas that voted for the president in 2016,
might be hurt.
American farmers, from hog producers in Iowa
to apple growers in Washington State to winemakers in California, expressed
deep disappointment over being put in the middle of a potential trade war with
China.
China’s Commerce Ministry said Beijing was
considering a tariff increase of 25 percent on pork and aluminum scrap,
mirroring Mr. Trump’s 25 percent charge on steel. A second list of goods,
including wine, apples, ethanol and stainless steel pipe, would be charged 15
percent, mirroring Mr. Trump’s tariff hike on aluminum.
Over all, United States farmers shipped
nearly $20 billion of goods to China in 2017. The American pork industry sent
$1.1 billion in products, making China the No. 3 market for American pork.
“No one wins in these tit-for-tat trade
disputes, least of all the farmers and the consumers,” said Jim Heimerl, a pig
farmer from Johnstown, Ohio, and the president of the National Pork Producers
Council.
The United States has complained for years about
China’s sharp-elbowed trading practices, accusing it of pirating trade secrets,
manipulating its currency, forcing foreign companies to hand over technology
and flooding world markets with cheap steel and aluminum that drive down prices
and put American manufacturers out of business.
The spiraling trade dispute between the
world’s two largest economies has spurred concerns among companies and
investors that global commerce could be depressed.
