Trump orders curbs on Chinese goods, investments

Trump orders curbs on Chinese goods, investments

What has happened?

President Donald Trump on Thursday directed imposition of tariffs on Chinese products, and restrictions on Chinese investments in America in a move that officials described as “historic” and is meant to push back against “economic aggression”

Special review

• The measures follow the completion of a special assessment of Chinese trade and investment practices that give Chinese companies “unfair advantage” and “forced U.S. companies to transfer technologies
• The review under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 was ordered by Mr. Trump last year.

Mitigating losses

• The President has now directed the U.S Trade Representative (USTR) that conducted the review to design measures, including tariffs, to mitigate the losses being faced by American corporations on account of such “forced intellectual property acquisition”
• The measures that will come into effect within the next two months could target 1,300 different products totalling tariffs up to $50 billion

Tariff wall

The President has asked the USTR to start the process towards erecting a tariff wall, while the Treasury Department has been directed to device restrictions on Chinese investments that were taking over American technologies for military and strategic purposes

Tech super power

China’s declared objective is to establish itself as a technology superpower by 2025, such a scenario will be harmful for the U.S.