This is from the Financial Times:
China has unveiled retaliatory duties on US food imports including pork, fruit, nuts and wine of up to 25 per cent as a response to the Trump administration’s new tariffs on steel and aluminium imports.
Beijing said the additional duties on 128 kinds of products of US origin would be introduced from Monday “in order to safeguard China’s interests and balance the losses caused by the United States additional tariffs”, according to a statement posted online late on Sunday.
The highest additional tariffs of 25 per cent will be imposed on top of existing duties on imports of US scrap aluminium and various kinds of frozen pork, the statement said. An added 15 per cent tariff will apply to dozens of US foods including fresh and dried fruits such as cherries, nuts such as almonds and pistachios, and wine and various kinds of rolled steel bars.
The list was consistent with measures proposed by Beijing last month when it said it was planning tariffs on $3bn of US imports. The response was seen as relatively measured since it left out key US exports to China such as soyabeans, of which the US exported some $14bn last year. 25% Top end of extra tariffs planned by China, adding to existing duties on imports of US scrap aluminium and frozen pork
The new duties are specifically in retaliation for steel and aluminium tariffs announced by the Trump administration early in March, not for the 25 per cent levy on up to $60bn of annual imports from China that Mr Trump promised later last month. That leaves open the prospect that Beijing could make a tougher response in the future.
China appears to be treating the U.S. tariffs as a safeguard measure:
China's Ministry of Finance announced the new tariffs in a statement, writing: "The Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council has decided to suspend duty concessions on certain imported goods originating in the United States and implemented it on April 2, 2018."
It said the measures were imposed in response to Trump's tariffs on steel and aluminium, adding: "[The US] measures violated the relevant rules of the World Trade Organization and did not comply with the 'security exceptions' provision, which actually constituted safeguard measures.
As I explained in the comments here, I'm skeptical that this is consistent with WTO rules, but the boundaries of the rules are being pushed a lot these days. How will the U.S. react? Will it file a WTO complaint against the Chinese tariffs? Will it escalate by retaliating for the retaliation? The Section 301 tariffs are already hanging over the situation, so maybe there is no need for anything additional, as new U.S. tariffs are already coming, and perhaps China factored that in to its decision to retaliate now.
Here's the big question: How do we rein all this in before it gets out of control?