Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, June 16 (Reporter Han Jie) On June 15, 2018, the U.S. government issued a list of goods subject to tariffs, which will impose a tariff of 25% on approximately US$50 billion of goods imported from China. About 34 billion U.S. dollars of goods began to impose tariff measures from July 6, 2018, and began to solicit public opinions on about 16 billion U.S. dollars worth of goods. The US measure violated the relevant rules of the World Trade Organization and is contrary to the consensus reached in the economic and trade negotiations between China and the United States. It seriously violates the legitimate rights and interests of our country and damages the interests of our country and people.
Pursuant to the laws and regulations of the People's Republic of China Foreign Trade Law, the People's Republic of China Import and Export Tariff Regulations, and the basic principles of international law, the State Council Customs Tariff Commission issued an announcement with the approval of the State Council, deciding that 659 items originating in the United States should be approximately US$50 billion. Imported goods will be subject to a 25% tariff, of which 545 items of about 340 billion U.S. dollars worth of goods such as agricultural products, automobiles, and aquatic products will be imposed with tariffs from July 6, 2018, and the implementation time for additional tariffs on other goods will be announced separately.
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The relevant person in charge of the Office of the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council said on the 16th that on June 15, 2018, the U.S. government announced that it would impose a tariff of 25% on about US$50 billion of goods imported from China, of which about US$34 billion will be used since 2018. On July 6th, the implementation of tariff escalation measures began, and at the same time, it imposed public opinions on about 16 billion U.S. dollars worth of goods. The U.S. practice violates the relevant rules of the World Trade Organization and is contrary to the consensus reached in the economic and trade negotiations between China and the United States. It seriously violates our legitimate rights and interests and damages the interests of our country and people. China firmly opposes it.
The U.S. imposes a 25% tariff on thousands of commodities worth about US$50 billion. It will substantially change the terms of trade of U.S. goods with the U.S., and affect the production and trade of these commodities' production and trading enterprises and their upstream and downstream affiliates. Operating. To this end, in response to the above-mentioned emergencies caused by the United States' violation of its international obligations in China, China decided to comply with the basic principles of international law and in accordance with the laws and regulations and authorizations of the People's Republic of China Foreign Trade Law and the People's Republic of China Import and Export Tariff Regulations. The same amount of imported goods in the United States is subject to the same level of taxation to protect their legitimate rights and interests.
The Chinese side noticed that the United States issued a statement saying that if China takes retaliatory measures, the United States will continue to add additional tariffs. In this regard, China will reserve the right to take corresponding measures.
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Xinhua Times Commentary: The United States will reverse the trend and will certainly pay a price
The US announced trade measures to China on June 15th, again provoking a trade war against China. This veritable behavior of the United States not only undermines the consensus of both parties and damages the world trade order, but also constantly dispels the trust of the world and ultimately hurts itself.
Recalling the economic and trade frictions between China and the United States, from May 3 to June 3, the three Sino-U.S. consultations moved forward in a candid manner toward solving the problem. Now Trump's government has once again appeared "do not fly" behavior, taxing China's goods "destructively", ignoring the overall situation of bilateral economic and trade relations, and moving further and further away in the unilateralism and trade protectionism astray. The U.S. will arbitrarily override the international rules and arbitrarily give up the rule system it has advocated. It will not solve the problem and will allow China and the United States to negotiate all the results before returning to zero. It will also have a major impact on the U.S. international image and reputation. .
With the adjustment of the international economic and trade pattern, the U.S.'s competitiveness in the world has declined, and the promotion of unilateralism and trade protectionism has become the forerunner of its "U.S. priority" strategy. Against this background, there will inevitably be frictions between China and the United States, and it will become normal to talk about playing with all kinds of variables. However, this does not mean that one party can act arbitrarily and unilaterally to launch a trade war.
If the trade war provoked the party does not feel pain, it will not stop its unreasonable behavior. In the face of unilateral provocations by the United States, we must resolutely fight back hard. China's position of defending the interests of the country and its people has always remained unchanged. The determination to safeguard economic globalization and the multilateral trading system has never changed. China is absolutely not afraid of any war and difficulties, and the Trump administration will behave in an awkward and capricious manner and will surely be equal. Measures of the same magnitude and countermeasures are used to counterattack. "There is preparation for small, medium, and big hits."
The wise build bridges, and the fools build walls. In today's economic globalization, there are no isolated islands, and no country is willing to create barriers and move against the historical trend. In the face of problems and differences, it is upholding the community of human destiny, embracing the world with openness, cooperation, and mutual benefit, or choosing the country's own priorities and closing the door to building. China and the United States are using their own actions to give answers. Faced with the history of a trade reversal, the countries of the world should join hands to better safeguard economic globalization and the multilateral trading system.
The efforts of the Chinese side to expand its opening up are not due to pressure from the United States, nor will they stop at the provocation of the United States. For China, no matter how the external environment changes, China will never yield to external pressure, nor will it change its pace of development. Going along the path of expanding and opening up is China's best response to the trade dispute between China and the United States, and it is also the responsibility of the great power that should be in the world.
Although China and the United States have conducted several rounds of consultations on economic and trade issues in an effort to resolve differences and achieve a win-win situation, on June 15th, local time, the White House still disregards the consensus that has been formed between both sides, and insisted on throwing out a $50 billion taxation list to provoke it. The trade war between the world's two major economies has not only undermined bilateral interests but also undermined world trade order. China's first time expressed its firm opposition.
"Illegal behavior" "damages and harms oneself", and international public opinion is shocked by the short-sighted behavior of the United States. Ever since the trade dispute was provoked, the fickleness of the United States has become the "normal", which not only has consumed and squandered its own national credibility, but has also allowed China to further recognize the unruly, self-serving nature of the Trump administration. The Chinese side has already said earlier that China does not want to fight a trade war, but it never fears a trade war. Regarding the seemingly unexpected behavior of the United States, China is well prepared and has enough determination and ability to strike back the trade war imposed on us. On the one hand, tax measures of the same scale and the same intensity have already been on the road and will be given to the United States. On the other hand, the date on which the US taxation list was landed was when all the economic and trade achievements reached through consultations between the two sides were destroyed.
There is no winner in the trade war, and the United States instigates a trade war, which is extremely destructive to free trade, economic globalization, the multilateral trading system, and global industrial chains throughout the world. The entire world will be guilty of unilateralism in the United States. As the number one developed country, the United States should have become a common defender of the multilateral trading system and let everyone benefit from the economic development and globalization process. However, "U.S. priorities" are becoming an act of the United States alone, and the Trump administration is obsessed with playing a disgraceful role as a global economic disruptor. Recently, the United States has waved the great stick of its trade war and has rashly rushed to other countries. The former allies of the European Union, Canada, and Mexico have successively become victims of trade protectionism, fully exposing the Trump administration's deregulation of globalization and opposition to trade liberalization. Suspense. In the eyes of the United States, the rules of international trade are splendid garments, worn when needed, and taken off when they are not needed. The United States can behave arbitrarily, but the world economy and international trade have tossed with such irresponsibility and can't afford it. China must work together with other countries to resolutely fight against this irresponsible behavior, and to color the militants so that the good will accept them. lesson.
Calculate profits when it comes to the world. Trade has always been a multilateral and bilateral behavior that promotes the interests of all parties. History has repeatedly proved that engaging in trade wars in order to solve trade imbalances is an outdated, backward, and inefficient act that not only harms the economy, but also loses morals and counters the world. The trend does not meet global interests. The multilateral trading system is the right way to resolve trade imbalances. Destruction of the multilateral trading system will only cause countries to fall back to their old game models that use each other as their neighbors. The trade war slapstick initiated by the United States has pushed the multilateral trade order to the edge of a dangerous cliff. Only the people of insight throughout the world can boycott and work together to set the course for the development of the world economy, roll the wheels of economic globalization, and crush any attempts and illusions of trade protectionism.
"Take the ground to Qin and still hold a salary to save the fire." This is what the Chinese people have known since ancient times. In the face of the trade attack launched by power-makers, China did not choose to withdraw from the beginning, but tit-for-tatly, arguing against arguments, resolutely safeguarding national interests and the interests of the people, and resolutely defending economic globalization and the multilateral trading system. Only those who are instigated by the war can stop the war. The inciting trade warfare does not stop the unreasonable behavior without feeling pain. In response to the trade war, although we have to pay a certain price, we will look to the future. This is a good international environment for safeguarding peace and development. We will maintain the excellent situation created during the 40 years of reform and opening up. Such a price can be paid and worth paying. With the challenges and pains, China will usher in a vast space for development and greater opportunities for development.
From the day of firm choice of reform and opening up, China was determined to fight the storm in the ocean of the world economy, and it was also accustomed to the turbulent waves on the way forward. The great American trade protectionism can not stop China's economic stability and good development, and it can't change the established direction of China's great strides in reform and opening up. As a responsible big country, China is an active participant, a strong supporter, and an important contributor to the multilateral trading system. It will not close its doors because people are unduly arguing. To deal with the external challenges of trade protectionism, the most fundamental thing is to conscientiously manage our own affairs and turn pressure into motivation. It is believed that after the turmoil, the Chinese economy will be healthier and stronger, releasing more lasting development charm.
--"Updates on tariffs as political fiction, Irish state apologizes for the gross exploitation of girls and women, illegal toxic vehicle emissions continue, Senator Gillibrand seeks to cut restrictions on worker coops. Interview with reporter Bob Hennelly on the US housing crisis as a sign of an unraveling economy."
1. The old global order dominated by US imperial power with its many contradictions and inequalities is cracking along many seams. But what is much less evident is what will replace it. I would like to be optimistic, but given the weaknesses of the left and progressive movements in the US and elsewhere on the one hand and the momentum and strength of the right on the other, It is hard to be sanguine about the future. In fact, one can make an argument that thanks to Trump, Putin, and other rightists who demagogically exploit the contradictions of everyday life and contemporary capitalism for anti-democratic and selfish purposes that a long era of democratic governance (with its obvious — you don't have to remind me — limitations) could well be in the autumn of its life.
All of which, I believe, gives profound importance to this fall's elections. Here in Kingston, NY we have the opportunity to unseat the Republican House incumbent. Years ago this contest for a House seat might have gone unnoticed by me, but not now. And better yet millions across the country are of the same mind.
2. Few things so viscerally demonstrate the utter inhumanity, cruelty, and depravity of Nazi Germany than the scene in the movie Sophie's Choice when the Nazi officer tells Sophie (Meryl Streep) to decide which of her two children will live and which will die. The Trump administration hasn't got to quite to that point, but in ripping children and babies out of the arms of their parents and interning them in makeshift shelters at the border, what it is doing is in the same ballpark.
3. Below is an excerpt from the speech of AFL-CIO leader Richard Trumka earlier this week to the UAW Constitutional Convention,
"As we fight… as we educate our members… as we campaign this summer and fall, we'll spell out our independent worker agenda again and again. We don't work for any political party. We work for workers, because we want more Republicans who will break rank and stand with working people. And while we're at it, we want fewer Democrats who take our money and energy and then forget who got them elected in the first place."
I find this so wrongheaded given the particular circumstances of this election. I suppose for some it might seem like an expression of political independence, but when looked at concretely, when looked at through the lens of the overarching imperative of electing a Democratic majority to the House and Senate this fall in order to preserve democracy and slow down the many sided, unrelenting, and unprecedented, anti-people offensive of Trump and his Republican Congressional quislings, it fails badly to meet the challenge of the present moment.
Much the same could be said about another remark by Trumka in his speech. He asserted:
"The corporate billionaires can't touch our solidarity… . yet when they attack our institutions… when they attack our ability to fight for our members and our communities… when they attack our ability to harness political power for working people… we'll fight back. We will fight back against every attack on working people, and we'll fight hard… we'll fight to win!
I appreciate the militant spirit expressed by Trumka here; it's sure needed. But I find the claim that "the corporate billionaires can't touch our solidarity" a misrepresentation of reality. That fact is that over the past two years Trump, who represents a healthy section of corporate billionaires, has fractured the solidarity of the labor movement as well as working people generally. And the fractures are along racial, gender, nativist, and nationalist lines. To suggest otherwise is of little help to the very members that Trumka represents, not to mention working people and their allies generally.
What would have served his audience better is if Trumka, much like he did in the presidential campaign of 2008, had spoke forthrightly and tactfully to these divisions . They aren't, after all, strangers to the UAW nor the labor movement across the Midwest at this moment. Trump knows this well. And, he will continue to say and do whatever he is necessary to exacerbate them. Such a posture, whose purpose is to peel away a substantial section of white workers to his side, is at the core of his political and reelection strategy to secure a beachhead in the Midwest in particular and country generally.
Hopefully, Trumka will make a course correction. Still time to do it.
4. Pre-trail detention for Paul Manaford, according to Trump and his minions, is cruel and arbitrary, but when it comes to the breakup of families and the lockup of children and babies at the border, that's perfectly ok, even scriptually sanctioned.
5. If the Summit was so good — and it was a step back from a war of words, threats, and nuclear brinksmanship — what was so bad about the Iran agreement?
