China’s finance ministry announced Sunday that it will reduce import tariffs on a variety of products, including textiles and steel.
The tariff rate for textiles and metals including steel will fall to 8.4 percent from 11.5 percent, effective Nov. 1, Reuters reports. “Reducing tariffs is conducive to promoting the balanced development of foreign trade and promoting a higher level of opening up to the outside world,” the finance ministry said.
The ministry also announced that tariffs on wood and paper, minerals, and gemstones will fall to 5.4 percent from 6.6 percent, with average tariffs across 1,500 products reaching 7.8 percent, down from 10.5 percent.
The reductions come as President Trump deploys increasingly aggressive tariffs against Chinese goods, and just six days after Trump implemented a 10 percent tariff on $200 billion of Chinese goods, following a similar action against $50 billion of goods in August.
The new tariff against Chinese imports was expected to rise from 10 percent to 25 percent at the end of the year. – READ MORE
[divider][/divider]China chastised the U.S. on Monday for engaging in what it deemed “trade bullyism” as $200 billion worth of tariffs went into effect, ratcheting up a trade war between the world’s two largest economies.
Reuters reported that China’s State Council blasted the Trump administration, saying it “has brazenly preached unilateralism, protectionism and economic hegemony, making false accusations against many countries and regions, particularly China, intimidating other countries through economic measures such as imposing tariffs.”
The statement came shortly after fresh U.S. tariffs and retaliatory Chinese tariffs officially went into effect.
China left the door open to negotiations moving forward, as long as they were “based on mutual respect and equality,” according to Reuters.- READ MORE
[contentcards url=”https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/white-house/china-slashes-steel-textile-tariffs-as-trump-ratchets-up-pressure” target=”_blank”]