China responded by imposing increased duties on imports of 128 goods

News24xx.com -  Beijing reacted to Washington's decision to impose tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum by approving increased duties for 128 goods from the United States. Such measures the Chinese authorities explained the need to protect the interests of the state.

The Customs Commission on Tariffs of the Chinese State Council decided to impose increased duties on 128 items of goods imported from the United States. So Beijing reacted to Washington's introduction of tariffs for imports of steel and aluminum. The announcement is posted on the website of the Chinese Ministry of Finance.

Such a decision in Beijing was explained by the need to "protect the interests" of the state, as well as "to balance the losses caused by US measures". China, as noted in the statement of the ministry, considered them "violation of WTO rules" and "serious infringement of the interests" of the country.

Now, according to the decision of the local authorities, imported fruits and products made from them will be subject to duty of 15%. The tariff for pork and products from it will be 25%. Such a measure will come into force on April 2. In other respects, Beijing's policy of lowering duties with respect to goods from other countries will not change.

The introduction of such measures, China threatened the US on March 23. Then on its website the Chinese Ministry of Finance published a list of goods, imports of which from the US could be subject to increased duties. In the list, in particular, were fresh fruit (bananas, figs, pineapples, guava, avocado, mango, persimmon, cherry, pears, apples, kiwi, etc.), berries (fresh grapes, watermelon, melon, frozen raspberries, blackberries, mulberries, currants and gooseberries), dried fruits (dried apricots, prunes, dried apples, etc.), as well as several types of nuts (Brazil nuts, hazelnuts, walnuts, pistachios, etc.), wine and pork.

The order on the introduction of tariffs for the import of steel and aluminum, US President Donald Trump signed on March 9. It then affected all countries except Canada, Mexico, EU countries, Australia, Argentina, Brazil and South Korea. Unified duties for the import of steel, according to the document, amounted to 25%, for the import of aluminum - 10%. The US Department of Commerce explained the need for such measures by the fact that imports of steel and aluminum "threaten the national security" of the States.

After that, on March 22, Washington adopted a memorandum on the introduction of trade restrictions against Beijing. The such decision, as explained by Trump, was aimed at reducing the deficit in US trade with China ("according to various estimates, ranged from $ 375 billion to $ 504 billion"). To implement such measures, the US president then instructed to compile a list of Chinese goods, which will be taxed. In total, as noted in the document, tariffs should touch imports by $ 60 billion. After this China warned the US against the "trade war".