China Pushes Back On Trade As The Countdown To Trump-Xi Meeting Begins In Earnest

Pat Togni

On June 2, 2019, the State Council Information Office of The People’s Republic of China released a White Paper entitled China’s Position on the China-U.S. Economic and Trade Consultations. The document states that “China does not want a trade war, but it is not afraid of one and it will fight one if necessary.” The release of the paper follows closely on the publication of commentary through the State-run Xinhua News Agency (entitled Five World-wide Hazards of the United States Launching Trade War Against China), which claimed that, by “launching a trade war against China, {the United States} is trying to invade China’s economic sovereignty and force China to damage its core interests.”

The Ministry of Commerce also announced plans to release a list of “unreliable” foreign companies and individuals. The list is widely viewed as a response to the recent actions taken by the United States regarding Chinese telecom firm Huawei. In the midst of these events, President Donald J. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinpeng are scheduled to meet during the G20 summit that will be held in Osaka, Japan on June 28-29.

USTR Proposes that A Fourth Group of Chinese Imports Be Subject to Section 301 Tariffs

Neal J. Reynolds

On May 15, 2019, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (“USTR”) announced that it was proposing to take further action against imports of various products from China under section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. Over the past year, USTR has imposed tariffs under section 301 on three groups of imports from China; these tariffs have covered a wide variety of products. In the May 15th announcement, USTR stated that it proposed to impose a tariff of up to 25 percent on what are, effectively, all remaining imports from China. According to USTR, the new round of tariffs would cover imports from China with an approximate annual trade value of $300 billion. Parties affected by the proposed tariffs may file comments on them on June 17, 2019. USTR plans to hold a hearing on the new list beginning on the same day.