Trump Administration Releases China Tariff List Aimed At Crippling Chinese Tech Push

Okay, the U.S. Trade Representative’s office has published the list of Chinese products that will be subject to U.S. tariffs.

Long story short, this is the list that goes along with the 301 probe – Lighthizer had until Friday to publish it. As discussed previously, the idea here is to hit China on the whole “Made in China 2025” initiative. This is adding extra uncertainty to the environment for tech.

In taking aim at the “Made in China 2025” initiative, Trump is attempting to undercut Beijing’s effort to catapult the country into a leadership role in industries like IT, robotics, aerospace, rail, new-energy vehicles, bio-medical and (somewhat separately), AI.

“Rising trade tensions reflect that as China moves up the value-added chain its economy is becoming less complementary to the U.S. and more directly competitive,” TCW’s David Loevinger told Bloomberg last week, adding that “‘Made in China 2025’ is part an effort to leapfrog the U.S. in some industries.”

Clearly, any effort to stymie that from Trump would invite retaliatory measures, raising the trade stakes even further, and putting the focus even more squarely on tech, etc. etc.

Here’s what the U.S. Trade Representative’s office had to say on Tuesday evening:

The U.S. Trade Representative (Trade Representative) has determined that the acts, policies, and practices of the Government of China related to technology transfer, intellectual property, and innovation covered in the investigation are unreasonable or discriminatory and burden or restrict U.S. commerce. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) is seeking public comment and will hold a public hearing regarding a proposed determination on appropriate action in response to these acts, policies, and practices. The Trade Representative proposes an additional duty of 25 percent on a list of products from China. The list of products, defined by 8-digit subheadings of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), is set out in the Annex to this Notice.