CHINA HITS BACK AT THE TARIFFS SET BY PRESIDENT TRUMP

Following President Donald Trump's tariff on goods coming from the East Asian nation, China has retaliated against the US. The new president put the tariffs into effect to address the "extraordinary threat posed by illegal aliens and drugs, including deadly fentanyl," as the White House has put it. Regarding China in particular, a White House press release asserted that Chinese authorities had "failed to take the actions necessary to shut down money laundering by transnational criminal organizations and stem the flow of precursor chemicals to known criminal cartels." President Xi Jinping retaliated minutes after the tariffs went into effect on February 4, 2024, the day Trump's trade war started.

What are tariffs?

Tariffs, which are taxes levied on goods from other countries, make it more expensive to sell many of these goods in the US, which ultimately affects the consumer. After World War II, advanced nations lost favour with tariffs because, according to the Council on Foreign Relations, they frequently resulted in "reduced trade, higher prices for consumers, and retaliation from abroad," which is what we've seen from China. Trump signed an executive order on Saturday, February 1, imposing 25 percent tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico. Meanwhile, all energy resources from the US' northern neighbour were subject to a 10 percent tariff, and an additional 10 percent tariff on goods shipped from China would go into effect today, February 4.

China's response to Trump's tariffs

In addition to a 10 percent tax on crude oil, agricultural equipment, and certain automobiles, China's Finance Ministry has announced plans to impose a 15 percent tax on US coal and liquefied natural gas. These are going to be used on Monday, February 10. The country has also issued a statement outlining its intentions to look into Google. It stated: "The State Administration for Market Regulation has opened an investigation into Google in compliance with the Anti-Monopoly Law of the People's Republic of China because Google is suspected of violating the law." In the meantime, the Chinese Customs Administration and Commerce Ministry asserted that they were enforcing export restrictions on tellurium, molybdenum, tungsten, ruthenium, and ruthenium-related products to "protect national security interests."

Why Trump imposed tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico

The number of "illegal aliens and drugs" smuggled into the United States, according to the Republican, makes Canada, Mexico, and China an "extraordinary threat" and even qualifies it as a "national emergency." The White House went on to say: "President Trump acted with conviction to impose tariffs on imports from China, using that leverage to reach a historic bilateral economic agreement in response to China’s intellectual property theft, forced technology transfer, and other unreasonable behaviour." It all started with a speech he gave at the end of last month at the House GOP (Grand Old Party, also known as the Republican Party) retreat in Florida.