Ignoring All Walks Of Life And Protesting A New Round Of US Tariffs On China Today

A tariff hearing is being added to China's $200 billion product. Washington, D.C. In protest, the protests of the US industry representatives continued unchecked. However, the hearing aimed at "hearing the public opinion" is only being seen through the motions.

Following the first round of US $34 billion product tariffs, the second round of US $16 billion product plus 25% tariff will be effective from today (August 23rd). Earlier, more than 90% of the delegates attending the hearing expressed their opposition to tariffs. After the hearing, the US Trade Representative Office (USTR) only fine-tuning the final list symbolically.

For the two rounds of duties imposed by the Trump administration, China has made it clear that counter-measures will be adopted, which means that US $50 billion bilateral products are or will soon be affected. Trump's trade protectionism has not stopped, but is stepping up and pressing constantly.

In August 2nd, the United States announced that it raised the tax rate on the US $200 billion export to the United States from 10% to 25%. In August 3rd, the Chinese side responded that it would levy tariffs on products imported from the United States for about 60 billion US dollars according to the four duty rates. At present, USTR is raising tariffs on US $200 billion products. Washington A 6 day hearing will be held.

Unlike the previous list, the $200 billion list is involved in many consumer goods, which are closely related to the daily life of ordinary people, including seafood, furniture, lighting, tyres, chemicals, plastics, bicycles and so on. Even the sharp eyed American media find that baby seats, wedding dresses and coffins are all included in the list of customs duties.

In an interview with experts interviewed by the twenty-first Century economic report, it is evident from the speeches of the participants in the past rounds of hearings that the objection to levy tariffs is increasing in the US. With the approaching mid-term elections in the United States, the Trump administration is facing increasing pressure on this issue.

Most of the participants were opposed.

From August 20th to August 27th, Office of the United States Trade Representative A 6 day hearing will be imposed on tariffs to be added to China's $200 billion product. Although the opposition in the previous hearing did not have a significant impact on the final decision, the enthusiasm of the US industry was still high, and nearly 360 representatives from American enterprises, trade associations and lobbying organizations came forward to speak.

In the first two rounds of tariff list, US Trade Representative Office The aim of the room is to import industrial machinery, electronic components and other intermediate products from China, so as to avoid direct impact on US consumers. However, when the tariff widened to US $200 billion, almost everywhere consumer goods in the lives of ordinary people were involved. According to foreign media, from cradle to grave, every link is spared.

The written testimony submitted by the American Chamber of Commerce indicates that the additional tariffs of $200 billion on Chinese imports raised by the US trade representative office have significantly increased the harm to ordinary consumers in the United States, American workers, enterprises and the US economy.

A top US business lobby group says the Trump administration lacks a coherent strategy to solve China's problems in intellectual property and other trade practices, and calls on Washington to have "serious discussions" with Beijing.

Reuters reported that in the more than 1400 written comments submitted to the office of the United States trade representative, most businesses believed that tariffs would increase the cost of products from all fields, including Halloween clothing, Christmas lights to nuclear fuel, and only a few people agreed to extend tariffs to other products. A coffin company with a history of over 100 years has been unlucky. Douglas, President of the company, said that the company was totally dependent on the coffin made in China. Tariffs would lead to "huge losses". The grieving family even had to pay extra cost for buying coffins. There was no worse time in life.

"The overwhelming majority of hearings are opposed." Zhang Jun, an academic member of Pangu think tank and an attorney at the Supreme Court of the United States, said in an interview with the twenty-first Century economic report that the reasons for opposition from baseball gloves and sporting goods to the bride's clothing and to various traditional manufacturing industries varied from industry to perspective.

Although they understand that the United States wants to protect local enterprises, they believe that such tariffs play a contrary role. Even if China does not export to the United States, it will be difficult for the United States to recover these industries from the perspective of environmental protection and time cost. "Many people think that it may take more than ten years, let alone worry about counterattacks from China." Zhang Jun said.

After months of continuous fermentation, the attitude of the US business community to tariff issues is changing. "The hearing was originally for three days, but because too many companies thought of Washington to express their wishes, they were forced to extend it to six days." Zhang Jun pointed out that it may take some time for the whole American people to feel that the pressure imposed by tariffs and customs retaliation may take some time. But American businesses, especially import companies, bear the brunt. They first felt the pressure from China's retaliatory tariffs.

In fact, many economists also believe that raising tariffs will hurt not only the target countries targeted by the United States, but also the US economy itself. Hashim Pesaran, an economist at University of Southern California, told an CNBC interview that any trade restrictions would reduce trade, which is bad for China, but in the long run, it is also obviously bad for the United States of America (of).

The US government may advance the tariff plan in spite of the protest

In the context of the huge divergence of tariffs in the United States, the hearing held by the office of the United States trade representative has given voice to all sectors, giving them opportunities to introduce their situation to the government, but it seems that the expression of these opinions has great impact on the decision making of the US government.

According to previous reports by the Wall Street journal, the US chemical Commission has said that more chemicals were added to the second tariff list, which is scheduled to take effect on the 23 day, although the committee made clear objections at the previous hearing. The report quoted the director of international trade of the Commission as saying that the US government did not actually listen to public opinions.

"Such hearings are not legally binding on the office of the United States trade representative." Zhang Jun pointed out to the twenty-first Century economic report reporter that this is nothing more than opening a window for the US industry and government to understand that the office of the United States trade representative is spanparent on this issue. But at present, the United States has imposed high tariff penalties on China. The administration's determination is under way. There is no legal restriction. "Although many people have called on the US Congress to restrict them through relevant laws, at present, there is little possibility of adopting such laws from the operational level or the will level."

　　 University of International Business and Economics Tu Xinquan, director of the WTO Research Institute and foreign trade expert of the Ministry of Commerce and economic policy advisory committee of the Ministry of Commerce, said in an interview with the twenty-first Century economic report that from the current situation, the voice of the United States against the Levy of tariffs has been increasing. From 301 to 34 billion US dollars to 16 billion US dollars, the opinions of the hearing vary greatly. At the hearing of 16 billion dollars, more than 90% interested parties have expressed their objections.