China has now reportedly responded against the first round of tariffs that President Donald Trump has imposed by imposing wide retaliatory charges on energy exports from the United States and conducting an antitrust investigation into Google.
This is part of an escalation toward a full-scale trade war between the United States and China.
Liquefied natural gas, coal, crude oil, farm equipment, and some automobiles manufactured in the United States will be subject to duties beginning on February 10th, according to an announcement made by China’s Ministry of Finance.
The tariffs will range from 10 percent to 15 percent.
In addition to these restrictions, China has implemented new export curbs on rare metals that are essential to the manufacturing sector in the United States.
Beijing portrayed the response as essential retribution against Trump’s own tariff hike, which was a tax of 10 percent on Chinese goods.
The president promoted the tariff hike as an opening salvo in what many people worry might become an all-out trade war.
A fresh antitrust inquiry into Google was also the most direct form of retaliation that China has yet used against Google.
Alphabet continues to make money off of Chinese companies advertising in other countries, despite the fact that the search giant is already prohibited in China.
In a manner similar to previous crackdowns on American technology companies such as ByteDance, the company that owns TikTok, the investigation may serve as a bargaining point in future negotiations.
In addition to the imposition of tariffs on Canada and Mexico, the president has also made the claim that both nations are not doing enough to stop the flow of fentanyl into the United States.
However, as a result of negotiations that took place at the eleventh hour, those tariffs have been placed on hold for at least one month while the negotiations continue.
It has also been reported by the Financial Times that President Trump and President Xi Jinping of China are scheduled to meet in the coming days.
Additionally, it is possible that a similar agreement or postponement may take place during this meeting.
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