China is preparing to retaliate if US president-elect Donald Trump raises duties on Chinese goods and has already toughened its stance, a US business group said yesterday.
Trump, who is to be inaugurated tomorrow, threatened during his campaign to raise import duties on Chinese goods to 45 percent.
US companies are frustrated by Chinese market barriers and want Washington to take a tougher stance toward Beijing, but worry reckless action might trigger retaliation.
China has already imposed unusually high anti-dumping penalties against a US-made agricultural chemical.
“China has indeed threatened to and is preparing to take steps in retaliation if such actions take place,” American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in China board member Lester Ross told a news conference.
In an implicit rebuke to Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on Tuesday defended free trade in a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
A “trade war” would harm all nations involved, he said.
On Wednesday last week, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce raised duties on DGGS, an additive for livestock feed, to up to 53.7 percent, nearly double the 33.8 percent rate it recommended in September last year before Trump was elected.
The ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Officials have not said publicly that China is preparing retaliatory measures, but state media have emphasized China’s importance as a market for US soybeans and other exports, and warned against starting a “trade war.”
Asked at a Jan. 6 news conference whether Beijing would retaliate by increasing duties on US goods, Chinese Deputy Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen (王受文) said: “I believe mutually beneficial Sino-US economic and trade relations will be further developed in the future and no one will destroy the win-win relationship.”
The US and China have one of the world’s biggest and most complex trading relationships, but US companies increasingly complain Beijing is blocking access to technology and other promising industries.
While Beijing has promised to open more industries to foreign companies, it has also issued new rules on electric car manufacturing, data security, Internet censorship and other fields.
In a reflection of companies’ concerns, AmCham China chairman William Zarit said the group plans to send seven or eight businesspeople to Washington next month to meet lawmakers and Trump administration officials.
Zarit said that is in addition to a delegation that makes an annual visit to Washington in April or May, because this year is “special in many ways.”
“We certainly are not going there to lecture the administration, but we will share our ideas on a win-win path forward,” Zarit said.
In a report released yesterday, the chamber said a survey found US companies are increasingly unhappy with what they see as unfair treatment in China.
“We would recommend that the US be more aggressive in talks, [but] we don’t want to do things that are counterproductive to both countries,” Zarit said.
The chamber said 81 percent of companies that responded to a survey feel “less welcome” in China, up from 77 percent last year.
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
STORM’S PATH: Kong-Rey could be the first typhoon to make landfall in Taiwan in November since Gilda in 1967. Taitung-Green Island ferry services have been halted Tropical Storm Kong-rey is forecast to strengthen into a typhoon early today and could make landfall in Taitung County between late Thursday and early Friday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, Kong-Rey was 1,030km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the nation’s southernmost point, and was moving west at 7kph. The tropical storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126 kph, CWA data showed. After landing in Taitung, the eye of the storm is forecast to move into the Taiwan Strait through central Taiwan on Friday morning, the agency said. With the storm moving
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work