On the 4th, as U.S. President Donald Trump imposed a '10+10' tariff on Chinese imports, China immediately retaliated.
On the 4th, the China State Council's Tariff Policy Committee announced through a public notice that it would increase tariffs on U.S. chicken, wheat, corn, and cotton by 15%, and raise tariffs on sorghum, soybeans, pork, beef, seafood, fruit, vegetables, and dairy products by 10%. This measure will take effect on the 10th of this month.
China's Ministry of Commerce has initiated sanctions against individual U.S. corporations. It has added several U.S. defense contractors to a 'unreliable entities' list, including Huntington Ingalls Industries, the largest shipbuilding company in the United States, Cubic Corporation, which provides military training simulations, and Teledyne Brown Engineering, which sells defense, aerospace, and marine engineering solutions. China's Ministry of Commerce noted that 'these corporations cannot conduct import and export activities related to China and new investments in China are also prohibited.'
Additionally, it included 15 U.S. corporations in the export control list. The companies, including Raytheon Technologies, a major U.S. defense contractor, and General Atomics, which manufactures military drones, will have their exports of dual-use goods (items intended for both civilian and military use) immediately halted. For Illumina, the world's largest genome analysis company that was added to the 'unreliable entities' list last month, China has decided to ban the export of genetic sequencers to China.
China's actions are a response to the U.S. imposing an additional 10% tariff on Chinese imports that day. This is the second measure after the 10% tariff was imposed on the 4th of last month. As a result, Chinese imports to the U.S. will now face a total of 20% in tariffs. Trump has said that he would impose tariffs unless the flow of drugs into the U.S. is stopped or significantly curtailed, pointing out that China is a major supplier of the synthetic opioid fentanyl.
China has indicated that it cannot accept the grounds for Trump's tariff imposition and has signaled its intention to respond. On the 10th of last month, China imposed a 15% tariff on U.S. coal and liquefied natural gas (LNG), as well as a 10% tariff on U.S. crude oil, agricultural machinery, and large pickup trucks. Moreover, it has begun export controls on rare minerals, such as tungsten, of which it controls 80% of global production, and has launched sanctions against corporations like PVH Group, which owns American IT companies including Google, Tommy Hilfiger, and Calvin Klein, as well as Illumina.