The first wave of U.S. tariffs on Chinese exports will take effect on July 6th, according to a statement from the U.S. Trade Representative.
China has vowed to strike back with tariffs on an equal amount of U.S. exports, marking a new milestone in a conflict that has spooked global markets.
Kim Hyesung reports.
It's D-day.
The U.S. is set to slap tariffs on Chinese goods on Friday, the first shot in a trade war between the world’s two biggest economies.
Starting Friday, the U.S. will tax around 800 Chinese products that are worth 34 billion U.S. dollars a year.
Beijing has said retaliatory tariffs on around 545 U.S. goods ranging from soybeans to pork, also worth around 34 billion dollars, will go into effect immediately after the U.S. acts.
It could mark a new phase of a trade conflict that has roiled global markets in recent days.
President Trump has repeatedly decried the U.S. trade deficit with China, which totaled over 375 billion dollars last year.
In mid-June, Trump said the U.S. would begin charging two rounds of tariffs.
First, a 25 percent tariff on 34 billion dollars of goods that's followed by another round of tariffs on 16 billion dollars of Chinese imports.
China has vowed to respond with equivalent tariffs on 16 billion dollars of U.S. products including soybeans, other farm crops, dairy products and automobiles, targeting American farmers, who overwhelmingly backed Trump in the 2016 election.
With further tit-for-tat levies already threatened between the U.S. and China, experts are concerned it will mark the start of a trade war that spreads globally, which could hurt the South Korean economy.
"South Korea trades 37 percent of its exports with China and the U.S.. In particular, it sells a lot of intermediary goods to China, that are made into final goods and exported to the U.S. Growing trade tensions, tit-for-tat measures between Washington and Beijing could slowdown South Korea's real economy."
Fitch Ratings estimates a full-blown trade war between the G2 could cost the world economy two trillion U.S. dollars.
Kim Hyesung, Arirang News.
