Blitz Bureau
US President Donald Trump fired the opening salvo of his trade war, imposing tariffs on China that sparked instant retaliation from Beijing, amid fears for the global economic repercussions, a report published in The Guardian said. It said moments after US tariffs of 10 per cent came into effect, China swiftly announced an anti-trust investigation into Google.
China’s Finance Ministry also announced 15 per cent tariffs on coal and liquefied natural gas, and 10 per cent on crude oil, farm equipment, large-displacement vehicles and pickup trucks from the US, added The Guardian report.
Earlier, the US President pulled back from the brink of an economic conflict with Canada and Mexico, however, delaying threatened duties for another month following 11th-hour talks. Following a call with Mexico’s President, Claudia Sheinbaum, Trump agreed to postpone tariffs of 25 per cent on Mexico after she offered to send 10,000 of the country’s troops to its border with the US.
Talks with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also prompted Trump to postpone 25 per cent tariffs on the country. Canada is implementing a $1.3-bn border plan, Trudeau said. China’s Commerce Ministry and its Customs administration said, to “safeguard national security interests” the country was imposing export controls on a raft of critical minerals: tungsten, tellurium, ruthenium, molybdenum and ruthenium-related items.
The ministry also said it was adding the US companies PVH Group and Illumina Inc to its unreliable entity list, opening them to restrictions or penalties, without detailing what the companies were accused of. PVH is a clothing company which owns brands including Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein. Illumina is a biotech firm specialising in genomic sequencing which recently partnered with Nvidia on health-related AI tech.
“The unilateral imposition of tariffs by the US seriously violates the rules of the World Trade Organisation,” China’s Finance Ministry said in its statement announcing the retaliatory tariffs. “It is not only unhelpful in solving its own problems, but also damages the normal economic and trade cooperation between China and the US,” it added.
For exports from China, the US has scrapped an exemption through which shipments valued at less than $800 have not faced tariffs. Popular Chinese retailers such as Shein and Temu have relied on the exemption to sell cheap goods in the US.
