China on Sunday (12) accused the United States of adopting double standards, following President Donald Trump’s announcement of imposing 100% additional tariffs on Chinese products. The American president said that the measure is a response to the “extraordinarily aggressive trade position” of the world’s second largest economy, which has decided to strengthen the regulation of exports of technologies related to rare earths.
China on Sunday (12) accused the United States of adopting double standards, following President Donald Trump’s announcement of imposing 100% additional tariffs on Chinese products. The American president said that the measure is a response to the “extraordinarily aggressive trade position” of the world’s second largest economy, which has decided to strengthen the regulation of exports of technologies related to rare earths.
This is a strategic sector: rare earths – a group of 17 heavy metals – are used in a wide variety of devices, from light bulbs to guided missiles.
The new tariffs will take effect on November 1 “or sooner,” according to Trump.
“The US statement is a typical example of ‘double standards,'” a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Commerce said in a statement posted online.
China is the world’s largest producer of rare earths, and Washington has accused the country of exploiting this dominant position. The new controls announced on Thursday by Beijing (9) concern the export of technologies related to the extraction and production of these materials, according to the ministry.
“A real surprise” for Donald Trump, who on Friday declared that he no longer had “no reason” to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, scheduled for the end of the month in South Korea, a meeting that he himself had announced in September.
Cumulative effect
The tariff announced by Trump is in addition to the 30% already applied to all Chinese products since May, in addition to tariffs in place for specific sectors such as steel, aluminum, copper, pharmaceuticals and furniture, as detailed by a White House official last week.
“Washington’s actions seriously harm China’s interests and undermine (…) the environment for economic and trade discussions between the two sides,” China’s Ministry of Commerce said on Sunday. “Constantly threatening high tariffs is not the right approach to cooperate with China,” he added.
Beijing and Washington fought an intense trade war earlier this year, with both sides reacting to tariff increases.
The two countries subsequently agreed on a trade truce valid until November. The agreement established provisional tariffs of 30% on Chinese products and 10% on American products.
On Friday, China also announced that it will impose “special” tariffs on American ships at its ports, in retaliation for similar measures taken by Washington in April.
(With AFP)
Source: Terra

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