China Responds in Kind to U.S. Section 301 Tariffs – 545 Categories of Goods Get Increased Tariffs Starting July 6

On June 15, China’s State Council announced it would retaliate against new U.S. tariffs stemming from its Section 301 investigation of China’s unfair trade practices related to the “forced transfer of American technology and intellectual property”.

The list of retaliatory tariffs expanded some 106 types of products China originally disclosed in April in response to the U.S. Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum products. China announced that the added tariffs would target $50 billion of U.S. goods to be implemented in two phases. The first list hits $34 billion of U.S. products across 545 categories with 25% tariffs beginning on July 6. This is the same day the United States will increase duties on the import of 818 tariff lines from China, also valued at $34 billion.

Agricultural products, sport utility vehicles, and electric vehicles are among the goods targeted by China.

China also released a second list with an additional $16 billion of U.S. goods to target with higher tariffs. The tariff rate and start date on the second list will be finalized later. The U.S. is also planning a second set of tariffs on $16 billion worth of Chinese goods after July 6, and the list will undergo further review in a public notice and comment process, including a public hearing. After completion of this process, USTR will issue a final determination on the products from this list that would be subject to the additional duties.