China to impose additional tariffs on U.S. imports worth 75 bln USD

China will impose additional tariffs on U.S. imports worth about 75 billion U.S. dollars in response to the newly announced U.S. tariff hikes on Chinese goods, the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council announced Friday.

Shipping containers are loaded onto ships in the Port of Los Angeles on February 10, 2006 in San Pedro, California. [File Photo: VCG]

Based on laws and approved by the State Council, a total of 5,078 U.S. products will be subject to additional tariffs of 10 percent or 5 percent.

The tariff hikes will be implemented in two batches and take effect at 12:01 p.m. Beijing time on Sept. 1 and at 12:01 p.m. on Dec. 15, respectively, the commission said in a statement.

The additional tariffs starting from Sept. 1 involve soybeans and crude oil, while those taking effect on Dec. 15 will be imposed on imports including corns, cotton, aquatic products, and vehicles and auto parts, said Gao Lingyun, a researcher with the Institute of World Economics and Politics under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

China's imposition of additional tariffs is a forced response to U.S. unilateralism and trade protectionism, the statement said.

These countermeasures, precise and forceful, are to safeguard both China's national interest and the interest of Chinese enterprises and people, Gao said.

Meanwhile, China has fully taken into account of the countermeasures' effects, the possibility to replace the products subject to higher tariffs, and the influence on people's life and industrial upgrades, according to Gao.

China reiterates once again that cooperation is the only correct choice for China and the United States, and that only a win-win situation will lead to a better future.

"We hope China and the United States will resolve differences in a manner acceptable to both sides on the premise of mutual respect, equality, good faith, and consistency of words and deeds," the statement said.

The two sides are expected to actively build a new balanced, inclusive and win-win Sino-U.S. economic and trade order, jointly safeguard, reform and improve the multilateral trading system, and promote win-win cooperation with other countries, the statement added.

The U.S. government announced on Aug. 15 that it will impose additional tariffs of 10 percent on Chinese goods worth about 300 billion dollars, effective on Sept. 1 and Dec. 15, respectively, in two batches.

The U.S. move has led to a further escalation of bilateral trade frictions, greatly damaging the interests of China, the United States and other countries, and also gravely threatening the multilateral trading system and free trade principles, the statement said.

The commission will continue with the work of exempting certain items from additional tariffs.

According to a separate announcement made by the commission Friday, China will resume imposing additional tariffs of 25 percent or 5 percent on American-made vehicles and auto parts starting from 12:01 p.m. Dec. 15.

An exemption from the additional tariffs on American-made vehicles and auto parts could be applied for, and detailed policies on such applications will be released separately, the commission said.

China hopes the United States will continue to follow the consensuses reached by the two heads of state in Argentina and Osaka, return to the right track of settling disputes through negotiations, work with China and make concrete efforts toward the goal of terminating the economic and trade frictions, the commission said.