On May 13, 2019, China’s Ministry of Finance announced that it will raise tariffs on $60 billion in U.S. goods, starting on June 1, 2019. This action was taken in retaliation for President Trump’s latest decision to raise tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese products from 10% to 25%.
The proposed tariffs would affect a wide range of U.S. goods exported to China. A range of tariff rates are proposed, however, depending on the type of product. Examples of items potentially subject to the increased tariffs are included below:
- 25% tariffs (total 2,493 items)
- Food products
- Frozen fruits and vegetables
- Soft drinks and bottled water
- Alcoholic beverages
- Animal products
- Raw materials and chemicals
- Rocks including marble, granite, sandstone and pebble
- Metals including copper, nickel, zinc and titanium
- Chemicals including chlorine and iodine
- Gas including LNG
- Others
- Musical instruments including pianos and string instruments
- Sports gear including basketball, fishing rod and golf equipment
- Furniture including wooden frames
- 20% tariffs (total 1,078 items)
- Sausages and similar products
- Plastic or cardboard boxes
- Pens, pencils, crayons and chalk
- Fertilizers
- 10% tariffs (total 974 items)
- Coffee beans
- Industrial steel products
- Sunglasses
- 5% tariffs (total 595 items; left unchanged)
- Medical equipment
- Farm equipment
- Paper products
- Auto parts
- Food products
In response to these retaliatory tariffs from China, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (“USTR”) has begun its process to impose additional tariffs on remaining Chinese imports, which is worth roughly $300 billion. See our relevant post here.
We will continue to monitor this situation closely. For more information on the impact of China’s potential retaliatory tariffs on U.S. exports, please contact Cortney Morgan, Grant Leach, Linda Tiller or a member of Husch Blackwell’s International Trade and Supply Chain team.