The tariff measures went into effect on Tuesday at 00:01 EST (05:01 GMT), hours after Trump claimed all three countries had failed to do enough to stop the flow of the deadly opioid fentanyl and its precursor products into the US. They could increase nearly $2.2 trillion in two-way annual US trade.
China immediately reacted by announcing additional tariffs of 10% and 15% on some US imports starting on March 10 and imposing a number of new export restrictions for specific US entities.
The US and Canada, which have collaborated almost exclusively with China for three decades, were prepared to immediately retaliate against their long-ago allies.
If Trump’s tariffs were still in effect in 21 days, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau threatened Ottawa with immediate 25 percent tariffs on $ 20.7 billion worth of US imports and $ 86.2 billion. Prior to this, he claimed Canada would target Florida orange juice, home appliances, wine, bourbon, and US beer.
Trudeau claimed that tariffs would “violate an incredibly successful trading relationship,” adding that they would go against the US-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement, which Trump signed during his first term.
In retaliation, Ontario’s premier Doug Ford declared to the NBC network that he was prepared to stop nickel shipments and electricity transmission from his province to the US.
According to the Mexican economy ministry, Claudia Sheinbaum was scheduled to give her response on Tuesday at a morning press conference in Mexico City.
tariffs in China
Trump’s additional 10% tariff on Chinese goods comes in addition to the additional 10% duty that was imposed on Beijing on February 4 as a result of the US fentanyl overdose crisis. Trump’s tariffs of up to 25% were added to the 20 percent duty during his first term, which included tariffs of up to 25 percent on US imports worth close to $ 370 billion.
Under former US President Joe Biden, US tariffs increased sharply in some of these products last year, including doubling the amount of Chinese semiconductors to 50% and quadrupling the amount of Chinese electric vehicle tariffs to more than 100%.
Smartphones, laptops, video game consoles, smartwatches, speakers, and Bluetooth devices will be subject to the 20 percent tariff, which will apply to a number of significant US consumer electronics imports from China that were previously exempt from duties.
A wide range of US agricultural products were targeted by China’s new tariffs, which included some grains, cotton, fruits, vegetables, and dairy products.
Tony Cheng, a journalist from outside China’s Yiwu city’s largest wholesale market, claimed the new tariffs were necessary because China is “very interested in opening up markets in the West, especially in the US.”
He claimed that “it is not being allowed at the moment, and this is a real concern.” “These kinds of tariffs are the main fuel for the small traders in places like Yiwu. They claim that margins are already “very small.”
Additionally, Beijing placed 25 US companies under national security-related export and investment restrictions. For selling arms to Taiwan, ten of these companies were targeted.
According to China’s Ministry of Commerce, the US tariffs “undermine the foundation for economic and trade cooperation between China and the US” and are in violation of World Trade Organization regulations.
Source: Aljazeera
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