Todd Bishop
The State Council and the Ministry of Commerce announced the decision and details of the US$75 billion tax on goods on the evening of August 23.
The official website of the Ministry of Finance of China announced on the evening of August 23, Beijing time that the State Council Tariff Commission decided to impose 10% and 5% tariffs on 5,078 tax items and about 75 billion US dollars of goods originating in the United States. It is implemented in two batches from 12:01 on September 1, 2019 and from 12:01 on December 15. At the same time, since 12:01 on December 15, 2019, 25% and 5% tariffs will be imposed on vehicles and parts originating in the United States. According to the US Bloomberg News, plus the tax rate before the trade war, China will impose a maximum tax rate of 50% on US cars.
China’s Ministry of Commerce official website announced the details of the list, the part that will take effect on September 1 will include an additional 5% tariff on the basis of the 25% tax on US soybeans and oil, which will be effective on July 6, 2018 and August 23, respectively. On the basis of the 25% tax on beef and pork on July 6, 2018, a 10% tariff is added.
Affected by China’s taxation news, one of the three major US stock indexes fell, and fell by 150 points at 8:36 pm, and oil prices also plunged 3%. Bloomberg News also pointed out that Germany’s Daimler and BMW (BMW) were the most affected by the establishment of a factory in the United States, and both have fallen 2% in the Frankfurt stock market. In addition, Tesla Motors Inc.’s share price in the former market of the New York Stock Exchange also fell. The US General Motors fell 2.2% and Fords fell 1.9%.
Bloomberg’s August 22 article said that a combination of 14 experts predicted that the United States will reduce China’s national economic growth rate by 0.5 percentage points after the two batches of tariffs on September 1 and December 15 of China. The US Trade Representative Office (USTR) issued a statement on August 16th to issue a list of “List 4-A” taxation on China on September 1. Bloomberg News on August 23rd said the list of commodities was valued at approximately 110 billion. The US dollar, and the “List 4-B” list worth about $160 billion will be launched on December 15.
Larry Kudlow, chief economic adviser of the White House, told Fox on August 22 that on August 21, the US-China negotiating negotiators conducted a “fruitful” and “constructive” telephone exchange. The Donald Trump government still plans to launch this level of talks again in a few days, and is preparing to hold a new round of face-to-face meetings with US-China negotiators in September.
