6 hours ago
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New Delhi:
China now faces tariffs of 245 per cent on import of goods into the United States "as a result of its retaliatory actions", the White House said Tuesday afternoon (India time) as the trade war between the two countries appears to be run further and further off road.
The announcement came as President Donald Trump authorised an investigation into "national security risks posed by the US' reliance on imported, processed critical minerals and derived products", which includes cobalt, lithium, and nickel, and rare-earth metals used to manufacture smartphones and batteries (for electric vehicles), as well as military equipment.
Trump's order points out the US is "dependent on foreign sources... that are at risk of serious, sustained, and long-term supply chain shocks". This dependence, the White House said, "raises potential for risks to national security, technological growth, and economic prosperity".
Until now tit-for-tat tariff exchanges had seen the US levy a 145 per cent tax on Chinese imports and China slap a 125 per cent duty on American goods. Beijing has also banned the export of certain goods, including those used by aerospace manufacturers and military contractors.
Trump has repeatedly accused China, India, Brazil, and most of the rest of the world, in fact, of levying higher tariffs on American imports than the US places on goods it imports from them.
The President has argued, and this was a major issue in his re-election campaign, that levying reciprocal tariffs will either force other countries to bring down their taxes or jumpstart a stuttering American manufacturing sector, offering much-needed local employment.
In line with that 'vision, since the start of the year Trump has imposed steep duties on imports from China, alongside a 10 per cent 'baseline' tariff on many US trading partners. This is exclusive, the White House has said, of taxes on specific goods, including separate 25 per centsteel and aluminium, and imported automobiles and auto parts.
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