China’s State Council this week released a white paper on economic and trade relations with the U.S., criticizing the U.S. government’s imposition of tariffs and export controls and saying that the two sides should strive toward “mutually beneficial cooperation.” The white paper seeks to “clarify the facts about China-US economic and trade relations and illustrate China's policy stance on relevant issues,” it says, according to an unofficial translation.
EU member states this week voted in favor of the European Commission's proposal to impose counter-tariffs in response to recent U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum.
China raised the tariff rate on U.S.-origin goods, from 34% to 84%, in response to President Donald Trump's April 8 executive order raising reciprocal rates by 50% (see 2504080079), the Office of the Tariff Commission of the State Council announced April 9. The new tariffs will take effect at 12:01 a.m. April 10, the commission said, according to an unofficial translation.
China opened a dispute at the World Trade Organization on April 8 on the U.S. reciprocal tariffs, claiming that the duties violate the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994, the Agreement on Customs Valuation and the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures. China's challenge covers the 34% additional tariff on Chinese imports that is set to take effect April 9, along with the 10% duty on imports from all trading partners, which took effect on April 5.
A senior Chinese Commerce Ministry trade official met with representatives from more than 20 U.S. companies in Bejing on April 6 to discuss the Trump administration's "abuse of tariffs" and Beijing's retaliatory measures (see 2504040024), according to an unofficial translation of the ministry's readout of the meeting. Ling Ji, China's vice commerce minister, said he hopes American companies will "take practical actions" and "jointly maintain the stability of the global production and supply chain." He also said Beijing is committed to multilateralism. The U.S. tariffs have "seriously damaged the rules-based multilateral trading system and seriously infringed upon the legitimate rights and interests of all countries," the official said. The meeting featured officials from Tesla, GE Healthcare, Medtronic and others, China said.
Canada filed a dispute consultation request with the U.S. at the World Trade Organization on April 7, alleging that the U.S. government's 25% additional tariff on automobiles and automobile parts violate WTO obligations. The request said the duties "appear to be inconsistent with" U.S. obligations under Articles II and VIII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994.
The European Commission has proposed 25% retaliatory tariffs on some U.S. goods in response to the tariffs on steel and aluminum President Donald Trump imposed last month (see 2503120042), according to a document seen by Reuters, the news service reported April 7.
Latin American countries are quietly breathing a sigh of relief that President Donald Trump's Liberation Day tariffs are focused primarily on other parts of the world, which may even give the region a comparative advantage.
The European Parliament on April 3 voted 531-69, with 17 abstentions, to postpone the effective date of new EU-wide supply chain due diligence rules for certain companies (see 2405240031). If formally approved by the European Council, the reporting rules would be postponed by one year for companies with over 5,000 employees and annual turnover of $1.6 billion, along with “non-EU companies with a turnover above this threshold in the EU.” Parliament said this means member states would have an extra year -- until July 26, 2027 -- to transpose the rules into their national legislation, and the companies “will only have to apply the rules from 2028.”
Vietnam is reportedly reducing tariffs on imported American liquefied natural gas, ethanol, automobiles and other goods as part of a bid to reduce its trade surplus with the U.S. and avoid facing increased duties imposed by the Trump administration (see 2502130030).