Beijing has retaliated against the Trump administration's imposition of 10% tariffs on Chinese imports by announcing its own set of tariffs and export controls. The Ministry of Finance in China revealed that new duties will be imposed, including a 15% tax on certain types of coal and liquefied natural gas, as well as a 10% tariff on crude oil, agricultural machinery, large-displacement cars, and pickup trucks. These measures are set to take effect on February 10.
In addition to tariffs, the Ministry of Commerce announced export controls on materials such as tungsten and tellurium, which have industrial and defense applications. Furthermore, two American companies, Illumina and PVH Group, have been added to China's unreliable entities list for allegedly violating market trading principles.
Separately, China's State Administration for Market Regulation has initiated an investigation into Google for suspected anti-monopoly violations, despite the company having minimal operations in China.
These actions come in response to the broad-based 10% tariff on Chinese imports imposed by the US, which recently went into effect. Beijing has criticized these tariffs and plans to file a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) while taking countermeasures.
China's commerce ministry has confirmed that it has brought the US tariff measures to the WTO dispute settlement mechanism, citing concerns about the impact on the rules-based multilateral trading system, economic cooperation between China and the US, and global supply chains.
