Editors note: It is CPA’s position that the full $50 billion of Chinese exports should be subject to the tariffs. And that we should plan to go further with tariffs on another $100 billion imports. China’s technology theft and trade surplus of $387 billion annually with the US is unlikely to be remedied without even stronger action to prevent the US consumer market from funding China’s bid to become the next global super power.
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said on Tuesday that the final Section 301 tariff list the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is set to publish by the end of the week will be a “subset” of an initial list of Chinese products that USTR has suggested should be hit with 25 percent tariffs, according to the Wall Street Journal.
[June 12, 2018 | Inside US Trade]
Navarro made those comments at the Journal’s CFO Network Forum, the Journal reported on Tuesday. The White House in May said it would implement the Section 301 tariffs shortly after June 15, when the final tariff list would be revealed. The tariffs stem from a Section 301 investigation into China’s intellectual property and technology transfer practices and would cover $50 billion worth of goods imported from China.
The White House also said it would implement investment restrictions and export controls on certain Chinese persons and entities after they are announced on June 30.
Navarro accused China of “economic aggression,” but said the Trump administration’s main goal was to defend industries of the future, such as robotics, from Beijing’s trade practices rather than change China’s behavior, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Navarro also warned that a deal struck by the White House and Chinese telecommunications giant ZTE could be undone if ZTE puts backdoors or viruses in its products, or if it stops buying U.S. chips.
