White House Announces Tariffs, Trade Restrictions To Be Placed On China

Enlarge this image toggle caption Ng Han Guan/AP Ng Han Guan/AP

The White House says it will impose a 25 percent tariff on $50 billion of Chinese goods with "industrially significant technology." The full list of products affected will be announced by June 15, and the tariffs will be implemented "shortly thereafter," according to the administration.

The White House also says it will announce and impose investment restrictions and enhanced export controls on Chinese individuals and organizations to prevent them from acquiring U.S. technology. Those restrictions will be announced by June 30, the Trump administration says, and will also be implemented "shortly thereafter."

The declaration of further sanctions had been expected last week but was apparently delayed.

Tuesday's announcement comes amid mixed messages from the White House about a "trade war" with China. In March, President Trump signaled his plans to put tariffs on Chinese-made goods. And last month, the U.S. began announcing specific tariffs, prompting a tit for tat of escalating proposals and retaliatory threats.

More recently, the two countries have seemed to signal an appetite for de-escalation. China cut tariffs on U.S. automobiles, and Trump has pledged support for ZTE, a Chinese company affected negatively by U.S. sanctions.

Just over a week ago, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the trade war with China was "on hold." He said the two countries were in talks and had made "meaningful progress."

But Larry Kudlow, the director of the National Economic Council, said that there was "no agreement" for a trade deal that could avert a trade war and that he never anticipated one.

Now Wilbur Ross, the U.S. commerce secretary, is planning to return to Beijing on Saturday for another round of talks in the ongoing trade and intellectual property dispute.

In the same statement on Tuesday, the White House said the U.S. will "continue to pursue litigation at the World Trade Organization" over allegations that China steals U.S. intellectual property.

That case was filed in March and is currently being disputed. On Monday, representatives of the two countries met at the WTO, where, Reuters reports, the U.S. said Chinese laws allow Chinese countries to demand sharing of technology from foreign firms that want to do business. China said the claims were unproven and sometimes speculative.

China, meanwhile, has filed its own WTO dispute against the U.S., over Trump's earlier tariff proposals.</s>Despite cooling tensions between the world’s two largest economies, the White House said Tuesday it will impose a 25% tariff on $50 billion of imported goods from China that “contain industrially significant technology" next month.

This includes products related to the “Made in China 2025” program. The final list will be announced by June 15 with tariffs imposed shortly after.

President Trump signed a memorandum in late March announcing the administration would take steps to protect domestic technology and intellectual property from China’s “discriminatory and burdensome” trade practices.

The White House also said it would implement specific investment restrictions and enhanced export controls for Chinese people and entities “related to the acquisition of industrially significant technology.” These will be announced by June 30 and applied shortly thereafter, it said.

This is a developing story, please check back for updates</s>BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The United States will announce investment restrictions and enhanced export controls on Chinese persons and entities related to the acquisition of industrially significant technology on June 30.



In a statement Tuesday, the White House said the United States will continue to pursue litigation at the World Trade Organization for violations of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights based on China's discriminatory practices for licensing intellectual property. 



The U.S. Trade Representative last month had decided to impose 25 percent tariff on 1300 products imported from China, including those related to the 'Made in China 2025' program, to prevent U.S. intellectual property theft and forced transfers of technology.



China hit back by saying it plans to impose the same tariff on 106 U.S. products worth $50 billion, including aircraft, cars, chemicals, and soybeans.



But after high-level bilateral trade talks, both sides agreed to put on hold the proposed tariff hike on each other's imports, pledging not to engage in a trade war. 



However, in the latest communique, the White House made it clear that the final list of covered imports would be announced by June 15, and tariffs would be imposed on those goods shortly thereafter.



'In addition, the United States will continue efforts to protect domestic technology and intellectual property, stop noneconomic transfers of industrially significant technology and intellectual property to China, and enhance access to the Chinese market.' 



The United States will request that China remove all of its many trade barriers, including non-monetary trade barriers, which make it both difficult and unfair to do business there.



The US will also request that tariffs and taxes between the two countries be reciprocal in nature and value.



The White House announced that discussions with China will continue on these topics.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX</s>The United States said that it will continue pursuing steps regarding trade with China, days after Washington and Beijing stated a tentative solution to their dispute and suggested that tensions had cooled.

"To protect our national security, the United States will implement specific investment restrictions and enhanced export controls for Chinese persons and entities related to the acquisition of industrially significant technology," the release said. "The proposed investment restrictions and enhanced export controls will be announced by June 30, 2018, and they will be implemented shortly thereafter."

By June 15, Washington will release a list of some $50-billion worth of Chinese goods that will be subject to a 25% tariff, the White House said in a statement. The United States will also continue to pursue litigation against China at the World Trade Organization.

"Under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, the United States will impose a 25 percent tariff on $50 billion of goods imported from China containing industrially significant technology, including those related to the "Made in China 2025" program," the release said.</s>WASHINGTON -- The U.S. is announcing that it will impose a 25 per cent tariff on US$50 billion worth of Chinese goods containing "industrially significant technology."

The White House said Tuesday that the tariff will cover goods related to the "Made in China 2025" program. The full list of imports that will be covered will be announced by June 15.

Trump has bemoaned the massive U.S. trade deficit with China -- $337 billion last year -- as evidence that Beijing has been complicit in abusive trading practices.

The White House also says the U.S. is planning new investment restrictions and export controls.

The announcement comes as the administration negotiates with China on a broad trade dispute. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is expected to travel to China later in the week for more talks.</s>The White House said Tuesday it will release next month a list of $50 billion of Chinese goods that will be subject to a 25% tariff.

The list will be released by June 15 and tariffs will be imposed “shortly thereafter,” the White House said in a statement.

In addition, the White House said it would announce specific investment restrictions and export controls for Chinese entities. The moves come as part of a probe into Chinese violations of U.S. intellectual property.

See: U.S. moves to finalize tariffs, investment restrictions on China.

The announcement comes as Washington and Beijing are in the midst of trade discussions, with both sides hoping to avert a trade war. President Donald Trump last week suggested a deal with China would need a “different structure” even as talks continue.

U.S. stocks tumbled Tuesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -1.58% off more than 400 points in afternoon trading. The S&P 500 SPX, -1.16% and Nasdaq COMP, -0.50% also fell. In addition to the China trade news, investors were weighing political drama in Italy, where another election appears likely within a few months. Investors fear that could turn into a de facto referendum on Italy’s membership in the euro.

The administration will issue proposed rules on investments related to Chinese entities by June 30.</s>WASHINGTON - The United States said on Tuesday that it will continue pursuing action on trade with China, days after Washington and Beijing announced a tentative solution to their dispute and suggested that tensions had cooled.

By June 15, Washington will release a list of some $50 billion worth of Chinese goods that will be subject to a 25 percent tariff, the White House said in a statement. The United States will also continue to pursue litigation against China at the World Trade Organization.

In addition, by the end of June, the United States will announce investment restrictions and “enhanced export controls” for Chinese individuals and entities “related to the acquisition of industrially significant technology,” it said.

In mid-May, China agreed to increase purchases of U.S. agriculture and energy products, and last week, the U.S. Commerce Department told lawmakers it had reached a deal to put Chinese telecommunications firm ZTE Corp ( 0763.HK ) (000063.SZ) back in business.

While the announcements eased worries about the possibility of a trade war between world’s two largest economies, U.S. President Donald Trump also said last week that any deal between Washington and Beijing would need “a different structure,” fueling uncertainty over the talks.

Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on up to $150 billion of Chinese goods to combat what he has labeled unfair trade practices on the part of Beijing. Meanwhile, China has warned of equal retaliation, including duties on some of its most significant U.S. imports, like aircraft, soybeans and vehicles.

Reporting by Makini Brice; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Andrea Ricci</s>(REUTERS) – The United States said on Tuesday that it still holds the threat of imposing tariffs on $50 billion of imports from China and will use it unless Beijing addresses the issue of theft of American intellectual property.

Washington will also press ahead with restrictions on investment by Chinese companies in the United States as well as export controls for goods exported to China, the statement from the White House said.

Details of the investment and export controls will be announced by June 30 and the final tariff list will be published by June 15.</s>The US government will impose 25 percent tariffs on certain Chinese products containing "industrially significant technology" as part of its plan to combat the theft of intellectual property it has accused Beijing of engaging in, the White House said Tuesday.

"The United States will implement specific investment restrictions and enhanced export controls for Chinese persons and entities related to the acquisition of industrially significant technology," the White House said in a statement.</s>WASHINGTON: The US will impose a hefty 25 per cent tariff on the USD 50 billion worth of Chinese goods containing "industrially significant" technology, the White House said today, days after the two sides reached an agreement and vowed not to launch a trade war against each other. China and the US averted a trade war by reaching an agreement on May 20 under which Beijing agreed to "significantly increase" its purchases of American goods and services to reduce USD 375 billion trade deficit with Washington.After lengthy second round of talks in Washington, the two sides issued a joint statement vowing not to launch a trade war against each other."The United States will impose a 25 per cent tariff on USD 50 billion of goods imported from China containing industrially significant technology, including those related to the 'Made in China 2025' programme," the White House said in a statement.The final list of covered imports will be announced by June 15, and tariffs will be imposed on those imports shortly thereafter, it said.The new tariff is part of one of the three major steps that the US is taking based on the March 22, memorandum signed by President Donald Trump It announced that the US would take multiple steps to protect domestic technology and intellectual property from certain discriminatory and burdensome trade practices by China.These actions were announced following a report of the Office of the US Trade Representative regarding China's practices with respect to technology transfer, intellectual property and innovation.In accordance with the March 22 memorandum, Trump has been updated on the progress of the announced actions.According to the White House, to protect its national security, the US will implement specific investment restrictions and enhanced export controls for Chinese persons and entities related to the acquisition of industrially significant technology.The proposed investment restrictions and enhanced export controls will be announced by June 30 and they will be implemented shortly thereafter, it said.The US will also continue to pursue litigation at the World Trade Organisation for violations of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights based on China's discriminatory practices for licensing intellectual property, the statement said.The US filed the case regarding these violations on March 23.In addition, the US will continue efforts to protect domestic technology and intellectual property, stop noneconomic transfers of industrially significant technology and intellectual property to China, and enhance access to the Chinese market, the White House said.Likewise, the US will request that China remove all of its many trade barriers, including non-monetary trade barriers, which make it both difficult and unfair to do business there, it said.The US will request that tariffs and taxes between the two countries be reciprocal in nature and value."Discussions with China will continue on these topics and the US looks forward to resolving long-standing structural issues and expanding our exports by eliminating China's severe import restrictions," the statement said.The trade spat between the top two economies of the world began last month with Trump imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum imports into US.China retaliated by imposing additional tariffs worth about USD three billion on 128 US products.Trump, while demanding China to reduce the USD 375 billion by USD 100 billion retaliated with USD 50 billion tariffs on Chinese products.In retaliation, China announced plans to impose new tariffs of 25 per cent worth USD 50 billion on 106 American products including items like soybeans which could hurt American farmers.The two countries have not yet implemented their tariff increases
The U.S. Government announces a 25% import tariff on US$50 billion of Chinese goods with "industrially significant technology". A full list of affected products will be published on June 15. Investment restrictions and enhanced export controls are to be announced on June 30.