WASHINGTON — China is imposing new retaliatory tariffs on $60 billion worth of U.S. goods, following the Trump administration’s decision last week to impose higher tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods.
On May 8, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) said it would increase the rate of additional duty imposed since September 2018 on Chinese goods from the current 10% to 25%. The increase took effect May 10.
China hit back Monday announcing plans to hike the tariffs on up to $60 billion of U.S. goods, sending stocks to their lowest level in two months. Beginning June 1, Beijing will charge a new 25% tariff on approximately 5,000 items, from food and consumer goods to chemicals and machinery.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled by more than 700 points shortly after 1 p.m. (EDT) Monday, with the Nasdaq composite falling by more than 3%.
Beyond the tariffs levied May 10, the Trump administration said it is now proceeding with another threat to impose a 25% tariff on the remaining goods that China exports to the U.S., which amounts to roughly $300 billion of Chinese products. The USTR was expected to begin the process necessary to tax the additional products on Monday after requesting public comment.
USTR has said a process will be established for businesses affected to request exclusions from the additional tariffs, which will apply to products in categories covered under the third list announced by USTR as part of its Section 301 investigation, known as list or tranche 3.
The Security Industry Association (SIA) previously submitted comments to USTR that identified 29 product categories on the list that impact the security industry, including key security products that are widely imported such as alarm and access control components, cameras and smoke detectors.
In a May 9 announcement, SIA alerted its membership they “should be aware of the tariff increases on these items imported from China.”
SIA’s announcement also warned members to be mindful of the potential for the Trump administration to impose additional duties on all remaining products imported from China — up to $325 billion in additional goods — not currently subject to tariffs.
“Further, retaliatory measures by the Chinese government in response to these developments are likely, and could include additional tariffs on U.S. goods, tariffs on U.S. services and various types of non-tariff trade barriers,” SIA stated.
The SIA announcement said it welcomes any input from members regarding the impact of the additional tariffs to help guide its engagement with policymakers on behalf of the security industry.
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