On March 24, the spokesperson of The Ministry of Commerce of China Shu Jueting, said that China expects the United States to cancel all additional tariffs imposed on China as soon as possible, considering the best interests of consumers and producers both in China and the United States.
Why it matters
China believes that the additional tariff measures imposed by the US are not conducive to the development of China-US trade. At a time of increasing inflation and a slowing global economy, it is the citizens of China and the United States who will pay for the tariffs.
A report released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in 2019 showed that tariffs on steel, aluminium and Chinese products contributed to a 0.3% rise in the U.S. consumer price index in 2018. In addition, according to the International Trade Consultancy’s research, raising the tariff rate to 25% would increase annual expenditures for an American family of four by an average of $767 and threaten nearly 1 million jobs.
Context
U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods stood at an average of 19.3% on a trade-weighted basis in 2021, while Chinese tariffs on American products were at about 20.7%, according to data compiled by the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE). Before the trade war, U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods were on average 3.1% in early 2018 while China’s tariffs on American goods were at 8%, the data showed.
