The Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council decided to slap additional tariff of 15% or 25% on 128 items of products imported from the US since April 2, 2018. The Spokesman of Ministry of Commerce commented on it.

On March 23, the Ministry of Commerce issued a product list of termination and concessions against the U.S. Section 232 measures for imported steel and aluminum products, and solicited public comments. On March 31, comments period was over, during which, many citizens expressed their supports for the measures and lists through telephones or e-mail, endorsing the government’s taking measures to safeguard the interests of the country and its industries. Part of the citizens suggested strengthening the measures. After evaluation, China decided to take above measures against 128 products imported from the US.

China said that the US took 232 measures against imported steel and aluminum products, abused the WTO article of “Security Exception”, formed safeguard measures actually, only targeted at a few countries, severely violated the non-discrimination principle which is the footstone of multilateral trading system, and infringed the interests of China. On March 26, according to the Agreement of Safeguards, China raised the requirements for trade compensation consultation to the US through the WTO but the US refused to answer. Considering that there was no possibility to reach consensus between the two countries, on March29, China reported the product list of termination and concessions to WTO and decided to slap additional tariff on part of products imported from the US, so as to balance China’s loss caused by the US 232 measures.

It is China’s legitimate right to suspend part of its obligations to the US as a WTO member. China hoped the US would revoke the measures that violated the WTO rules and brought China-US trade to the normal track regarding related products. As the two largest economies in the world, cooperation is the only correct choice for China and the US. The two parties should solve each other’s concerns through dialogues and realize common development, so as to avoid bigger harms to the overall situation of China-US cooperation caused by the follow-up actions.