Economic Scenarios

China reacts to US tariffs with counter-tariffs and an investigation into Google

China's Finance Ministry said Tuesday it will impose additional tariffs of 15% on imports of coal and liquefied natural gas from the United States, and higher duties of 10% on American crude oil, agricultural equipment and some automobiles, starting from 10 February.

The tariff announcement is part of a series of punitive actions Beijing unveiled on Tuesday, minutes after additional 10% tariffs on Chinese goods took effect.

China reiterated that the imposition of additional duties "seriously violates the rules of the World Trade Organization" and will likely file a complaint with the organization, although it is known that these procedures rarely lead to results.

In response to the Chinese tariffs, the price of WTI oil fell by three dollars, because the sanctions suggest a production slowdown in the Eastern country, and this immediately affects the price of energy

In a separate statement on Tuesday,officials from China's Ministry of Commerce and Customs announced the imposition of export controls on a number of items related to some critical minerals, including tungsten, tellurium, ruthenium, molybdenum and ruthenium. This will accelerate plans for the domestic development of manufacturing in the USA.

US President Donald Trump on Monday agreed to a 30-day pause on the implementation of planned 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico, as the two countries agreed to take measures to prevent illicit trafficking of fentanyl in United States.

At the start of his second term, Trump ordered his administration to investigate Beijing's compliance with a trade deal made during his first presidency in 2020. The final outcome of the assessment will be delivered to Trump by April 1 , potentially setting the stage for further tariff action, economists said.

As an additional move, the Chinese Market Regulatory Authority has launched an investigation into Google for monopolistic practices. Although investigations of this kind are underway in the USA, it appears curious in China where the IT giant's services are largely blocked.

The retaliations from the Chinese government were largely expected and the application on US LNG and oil, more than anything else, will redirect shipments of this product towards Europe and other eastern countries, such as Japan and South Korea. However, the effects will be limited.


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The article China reacts to US tariffs with counter-tariffs and an investigation into Google comes from Economic Scenarios .


This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/la-cina-reagisce-ai-dazi-usa-con-contro-dazi-e-uninchiesta-su-google/ on Tue, 04 Feb 2025 07:00:04 +0000.