Donald Trump has fulfilled his promise to exercise the vast economic weight of the United States to return the blow to China for its alleged unfair commercial practices and its role in the mortal crisis of the United States fentanyl.
The president said on Saturday that Chinese exports to the United States would be subject to an additional 10 percent rate in addition to the various tasks they already face.
China responded on Sunday, saying that “it firmly opposes” the movement and would take “corresponding countermeasures to resolve their interests resolutely”.
This is where the commercial relationship of China-United States is located:
How much trade is at stake?
The trade between China and the United States, the two largest economies in the world, is vast, for a total of more than $ 530 billion in the first 11 months of 2024, according to Washington.
During that same period, sales of Chinese products to the United States totaled more than $ 400 billion, only for Mexico.
According to the Peterson Institute of International Economics (PIIE), China is the dominant provider of goods, from electronics and electrical machinery to textiles and clothing.
But a commercial imbalance of yawn, $ 270.4 billion for January to November last year, has long collected hackles in Washington.
So has the vast state support of China to its industries, generating accusations of discharge, as well as their perceived abuse of US companies operating in their territory.
But China’s economy continues to depend largely on exports to boost growth despite official efforts to increase national consumption, which makes its leaders reluctant to change the status quo.
What happened during Trump’s first mandate?
Trump broke into the White House in 2016 promising to arrive even with China, launching a commercial war that slapped significant tariffs in hundreds of billions of dollars of Chinese products.
China responded with retaliation tariffs on US products, particularly that affect US farmers.
The key demands of the United States were greater access to China’s markets, a wide reform of a commercial playing field that greatly favors Chinese companies and loosening of strong state control by Beijing.
After long and tense negotiations, the two parties agreed what was known as the “phase one” trade agreement: a high fire in the commercial war of almost two years.
According to that agreement, Beijing agreed to import American products worth $ 200 billion, including $ 32 billion in agricultural and seafood products.
But in front of the Covid-19 pandemic and a recession of the United States, analysts say that Beijing did not reach that commitment.
“In the end, China bought only 58 percent of US exports who had pledged to buy by virtue of the agreement, not even enough to reach its import levels from before the commercial war,” wrote Chad P brown from Piie
“Said differently, China did not buy any of the additional $ 200 billion of exports that Trump’s agreement had promised.”
How did things change under Biden?
Trump’s successor, Joe Biden, did not go back to the increases imposed by his predecessor, but adopted a more specific approach when it came to tariff walks.
Under Biden, Washington expanded efforts to stop the state -of -the -art chips exports to China, part of a broader effort to prevent sensitive technologies from the United States from being used in Beijing’s military arsenal.
His administration also used tariffs to point to what he called the “industrial overcapacity” of China: he fears that the country’s industrial subsidies for green energy, cars and batteries can flood global markets with cheap products.
Last May, Biden ordered tariffs on imports worth $ 18 billion of China, accusing Beijing of “trap” instead of competing.
Under the walks, tariffs in electric vehicles quadrupled 100 percent, while the semiconductor rate increased from 25 percent to 50 percent.
The measures also went to strategic sectors such as batteries, critical minerals and medical products.
Both parties have also launched research on the alleged unfair commercial practices of others with probes on dumping and state subsidies.
What happens later?
Trump’s announcement on Saturday showed that his in danger tariffs were serious and not an opening gambit in the negotiations.
The Mercurial Magnate has also linked tariffs to the destination of the application of Chinese social networks Tiktok, warning of reprisals if you cannot reach an agreement to sell it.
But Beijing’s strong Roste has left little doubt that he will push against the measures he has seen for a long time.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce has promised “corresponding countermeasures to resolutely safeguard our own rights and interests”, without saying what way they will take.
He has also said that he will take his case against Trump’s tariffs to the World Trade Organization, although it is unlikely to bring short -term changes.
More immediate is the threat of Beijing’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the duties “will inevitably affect and damage future bilateral cooperation in drug control.”
That throws a new shadow about the coutnarnar -cake conversations that resumed after Biden met Chinese President Xi Jinping in San Francisco in 2023.
A US-China working group later said that the regulation of three key fentanyl precursors would increase, although it is not clear how much success it has been achieved.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a union feed).
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