US President Donald Trump has proposed tariffs of 25 per cent on imported steel and 10 per cent on aluminium that he says will put the country first. Here’s what the tariffs would actually mean for people living in America.
The important question here is what Trump wants from China. The trade imbalance is a superficial problem. The key to this confrontation is US concerns about China’s progress on technology – we’re going to see more competition and jostling for position and places in the industrial chain, and it will become more fierce,” the adviser said.
“The US is unhappy about China’s state-dominated economic model, but the current multilateral trade rules offer no effective way for the US to address its concerns.”
No winners – only catastrophe – in a China-US trade war, Beijing says
Dozens of industry groups in the US sent a letter to Trump last weekend warning that “the imposition of sweeping tariffs would trigger a chain reaction of negative consequences for the US economy, provoking retaliation; stifling US agriculture, goods and services exports; and raising costs for businesses and consumers”.
Moody’s Investors Service said the impact would be far greater if the United States significantly expanded tariffs and threw in broad-ranging protectionist measures.
Sectors with a large, direct exposure to the US market, Moody’s said, included cork and wood products, furniture, office machines, household appliances, electrical equipment, road vehicles, telecommunications equipment, electrical machinery, apparel and footwear, and animal oils and fats.
Analysts said US companies like Boeing, which sell billions of dollars worth of planes to Chinese airlines, as well as deals which required Chinese approval could also become caught in the crossfire should a trade war break out.
Additional reporting by Robert Delaney and Reuters
Source:scmp.com/news