On the 29th of May, 2018, the United States seemed to negate all of their previous discussions as they decided to send China a message confirming an increase of tariffs on Chinese imports as soon as possible. The Trump administration surprised its Chinese counterpart by announcing certain decisions like restricting Beijing from having access to sensitive US technology, which was bound to harm economic relations between China and America.
Prior to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross visiting Beijing on Saturday to discuss the improvement of trade relations between the two countries, the White House announced that they have settled upon a deal to issue a total of 25% tariffs upon $50 billion worth in Chinese imports. Chinese officials have believed this decision to impose $50 billion tariffs on Chinese imports to be just the beginning of a planned $150 billion tariffs exacted on Chinese imports by the White House.
The White House announced that they intended to release a final list of the $50 billion imports along with their duties implemented within the 15th of June. They also pre-announced an announcement educating the public about planned investment restrictions which would hinder China’s plan of American technology acquisition on the 30th of June. This sudden news of steep increase in tariffs has invariably surprised the Chinese Commerce Ministry, which condemned the announcement to be ‘unexpected’, yet ‘within expectation’. However, this move also definitely breaks previous Chinese-American agreements to prohibit a trade war by decreasing tariffs on both sides of the imports. In such a case, the Chinese Ministry is expected to take steps which would defend its core interests and profits.