Trade war: The US increased duties on China to 104%

A week ago, on April 2, US President Donald Trump announced the introduction or increase of duties for almost all countries and territories of the world, and on the evening of April 8 it became known about their repeated increase in relation to China. Thus, they increased by 50 percentage points and amounted to 104%. This was done due to the fact that the US authorities did not receive signals of concessions from Beijing. China, in turn, has already announced that retaliatory measures will be taken against the United States. For more information about tariffs, as well as their impact on the Chinese economy— see the Izvestia article.

Increase in US duties on April 9: what is known

Last Wednesday, April 2, it became known about new US duties for other countries of the world. Universal ones, in the amount of 10%, entered into force on April 5, and individual ones, it was reported, will begin to operate on the 9th at 07:01 Moscow time. On the evening of April 8, US President Donald Trump implemented his intention to raise import duties from China again. He spoke about this on Monday, the 7th, noting that tariffs will be increased against Beijing if China does not waive duties of 34% on American goods.

Penguins will also pay: Trump has imposed duties against uninhabited territories

He also declared a state of emergency in the United States due to the trade balance.

Thus, tariffs against China since April 9 have amounted to 104%. According to the head of the White House, they will act until China enters into a trade deal with the United States.

The Chinese authorities have already announced that they will take decisive measures in response to the actions of the American president. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said this at a briefing: "We will continue to take decisive and effective measures to protect our legitimate rights and interests." He also added that Beijing will not tolerate actions that infringe on China's sovereignty, development interests and security. The Chinese embassy called the US duties an act of unilateral intimidation.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has already responded to Trump's tariff increase against China on her Telegram channel.: "During the day, American and retaliatory tariffs have increased even more. The bidding is serious. For the States, this is one of the traditional ways of doing business. It's a shock for many countries."

How Trump's tariffs will affect China's economy

CNN believes that the United States is unlikely to be able to defeat China in a trade war, and it also expressed doubt that Trump and his administration realize "how resilient China is and how painful it can hit American consumers."

It is also important to note that, according to estimates by analysts at Anderida Financial Group for RIA Novosti, China faces a loss of at least 2.7% of the country's GDP in the event of a complete cessation of trade with the United States.

"Now there are two states in the ring that are fighting for the championship. For China to strike today is extremely important not only from an economic point of view, but also from an image point of view: the second economy in the world cannot afford to be humiliated in the international arena," the company added.

At the same time, China has the opportunity to adapt to changes, said Dmitry Kuznetsov, a researcher at the International Laboratory for Foreign Trade Research at the IPEI Presidential Academy. "He is able to compensate for some of the losses by manipulating the yuan exchange rate, mitigating the impact of trade restrictions. The cheaper the national currency, the more profitable the export," the expert said in an interview with Izvestia.

Yu Miaojie, rector of Liaoning University and a leading expert in international trade, told the Chinese daily Global Times that Trump was isolating the United States with protectionist measures. In his opinion, due to Washington's actions, negative changes in global trade and a slowdown in global economic growth can be expected in the near future. However, Trump's tariffs will have a limited impact on Chinese exports due to the fact that China has actively diversified the flow of goods, not focusing on the United States.

"By imposing high tariffs on all its trading partners, including China, the United States risks becoming economically isolated," the expert told the Global Times newspaper.

Some experts also noted that due to the new US tariffs, China is able to increase the supply of goods to Russia. In this case, there may be a need for protective measures for individual industries.

In addition, the customs war could trigger the creation of an economic union between the EU and China. They will probably decide to switch to trading with each other, Georgy Ostapkovich, director of the HSE Center for Economic Studies, suggested in a conversation with Izvestia.

Against the background of the introduction of duties, the US dollar began to decline sharply against most major world currencies. It is estimated that he is losing from 0.51 to 0.74%.