Page 8A
BUSINESS
East Oregonian
Saturday, July 7, 2018
HERMISTON
Mobile vendor
rules on council’s
plate Monday
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
“Biggest trade war
in economic history”
Chinatopix via AP
A ship hauls containers at a container port in Qingdao in eastern China’s Shandong province Friday. The United
States hiked tariffs on Chinese imports Friday and Beijing said it immediately retaliated in a dispute between the
world’s two biggest economies that President Donald Trump says he is prepared to escalate.
Markets take opening salvo of
U.S.-China trade battle in stride
By JOE MCDONALD,
PAUL WISEMAN
and DARLENE
SUPERVILLE
Associated Press
B
EIJING — The United
States and China
launched what Beijing
called the “biggest trade war
in economic history” Friday,
imposing tariffs on billions
of dollars of each other’s
goods amid a spiraling
dispute over technology.
The Trump administra-
tion is confronting China
over development tactics it
says include stealing tech-
nology or pressuring foreign
companies to hand it over.
American officials worry
U.S. industrial leadership
will be eroded by Chinese
plans to create tech champi-
ons in fields including robot-
ics, biotech and artificial
intelligence.
Washington imposed 25
percent duties on $34 bil-
lion of imports from China,
the first in a series of pos-
sible increases that Pres-
ident Donald Trump says
could affect up to $550 bil-
lion of Chinese goods, more
than the total amount China
exported to the U.S. last
year.
The first round targets
Chinese industrial goods,
not consumer products, in an
attempt to limit the impact
on U.S. households, but
companies that rely on Chi-
nese-made machinery or
components may eventually
have to pass along increased
costs to customers.
The Chinese Foreign
Ministry said “retaliatory
tariffs” also took effect, but
provided no other details.
The Communist Party news-
paper People’s Daily said
tariffs were imposed on a list
of goods issued last month
that included soybeans, pork
and electric vehicles. U.S.
soybean farmers have been
particularly concerned, and
the price of soybeans has
plunged 17 percent over the
past month on tariff fears.
Washington has “ignited
the biggest trade war in eco-
nomic history,” said a Com-
merce Ministry statement.
During an official visit
to Bulgaria, China’s No. 2
leader, Premier Li Keqiang,
said “no one will win by
fighting a trade war, yet
China will take countermea-
sures in the face of unilateral
moves.”
Companies worry the dis-
pute could chill global eco-
nomic growth, but Asian
financial markets took Fri-
day’s developments in stride.
Japan’s main stock index,
the Nikkei 225, gained 1.1
percent while the Shanghai
Composite Index added 0.5
percent. Hong Kong’s Hang
Seng also rose 0.5 percent.
The conflict between the
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world’s two biggest econ-
omies reflects chronic ten-
sion in their relationship as
customers, business part-
ners, and increasingly com-
petitors. It also is rooted in
the clash between American
notions of free trade and Bei-
jing’s state-led development
model.
China’s ruling Com-
munist Party has insisted
on making changes at its
own pace while sticking
to state-directed technol-
ogy development seen as
the path to prosperity and
global influence. Beijing has
announced reforms this year
including ending limits on
foreign ownership in its auto
industry, but none directly
addresses complaints that
are fueling its conflict with
Washington.
On Thursday, Trump said
higher tariffs on an addi-
tional $16 billion in Chinese
goods were set to take effect
in two weeks.
After that, the hostilities
could intensify: Trump said
Washington is ready to target
an additional $200 billion in
Chinese imports — and then
$300 billion more — if Bei-
jing does not yield.
That would bring the total
of targeted Chinese goods to
$550 billion — more than
the $506 billion in goods
that China shipped to the
United States last year.
Chinese officials reject
accusations they steal or
force foreign companies to
hand over technology. But
rules on auto manufacturing
and other industries require
companies to work through
state-owned partners, oblig-
ing them to share know-how
with potential competitors.
Other
governments
express similar complaints
toward Beijing, but Wash-
ington has alienated poten-
tial allies by raising import
duties on steel, aluminum
and autos from Europe,
Canada, Mexico and Japan.
Some have responded by
hiking their own tariffs on
U.S. goods.
Trump’s confrontational
outlook applies to other trad-
ing partners as well as China,
said Tai Hui, chief strategist
for JP Morgan Asset Man-
agement, in a report.
“This is a potential con-
cern for the outlook of cor-
porate investment and con-
sumption around world,”
Hui said.
Other disputes brewing
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump
is fighting trade battles in all directions, not just with
China.
Trump ran for the White House on a vow to reverse
decades of U.S. policy by scrapping deals that he said
put American manufacturers at a competitive disadvan-
tage and by forcing U.S. trading partners to shrink their
trade surpluses with the United States.
THE STEEL SPAT: Trump has enraged such U.S.
allies as the European Union, Canada and Mexico by
hitting them — and just about everyone else — with a 25
percent tariff on imported steel and a 10 percent tariff on
imported aluminum. What galls them most is the pres-
ident’s justification: Using a little-used weapon in U.S.
trade law, he has declared that the imported metals are a
threat to America’s national security.
The steel and aluminum tariffs have drawn retalia-
tion from a host of U.S. trading partners. The EU tar-
geted American exports that could inflict political pain,
including bourbon (a product produced in Kentucky,
home state of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McCon-
nell), and Harley-Davidson motorcycles, made in Wis-
consin, home state of House Speaker Paul Ryan.
THE NAFTA REWRITE: On the campaign trail,
Trump attacked the 24-year-old North American Free
Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico as unfair to
the United States. The pact eliminated most trade barri-
ers among the three countries. It opened markets for U.S.
farmers but led some American automakers to shift pro-
duction to low-wage Mexico and to then ship cars back
to the United States duty-free.
Trump vowed to either negotiate a better deal or
abandon NAFTA. Abandoning NAFTA, though, would
disrupt the complex supply chains that manufacturers
have built across the bloc’s borders and likely drive up
U.S. car prices.
The negotiations began in August but have stalled
over U.S. demands designed to discourage investment in
Mexico and to shift auto production back to the United
States. Trump’s attempt to use the steel and aluminum
tariffs to pry concessions from the Mexicans and Cana-
dians proved futile.
AUTO WARS: Reprising the tactic he used against
steel and aluminum imports, Trump in May ordered the
Commerce Department to investigate whether imported
vehicles and auto parts pose a threat to U.S. national
security that justifies tariffs. The proposal drew scorn
from economists and European officials.
Trump sometimes changes his justification for seek-
ing auto tariffs. In a tweet last month, he complained
about EU trade barriers and warned that “if these Tariffs
and Barriers are not soon broken down and removed, we
will be placing a 20% Tariff on all of their cars coming
into the U.S. Build them here!”
Port of Morrow manager
search moves forward
BOARDMAN — The
Port of Morrow plans to
have a new director in
place in early August.
Commissioners
deter-
mined the timeline Fri-
day morning, when they
met in executive session to
review a pool of 33 candi-
dates that had applied for
the executive director posi-
tion, which will be vacated
by longtime manager Gary
Neal in December.
Commissioner
Rick
Stokoe said they would
wait to release the names of
remaining applicants until
they had confirmed their
availability for an in-per-
son interview. He said the
port will host a meet-and-
greet for candidates and
the public on August 6,
and will interview candi-
dates on August 7.
He said the commis-
sioners have the option
to extend a job offer on
August 7, but may wait
until their regular August 8
meeting to do so.
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The Hermiston City
Council will get an update
on the city’s mobile food
vending ordinance on
Monday.
City staff are holding
off on making any recom-
mendations about amend-
ments to the ordinance
until a citizen survey ends
on July 15, but the topic is
on the agenda for discus-
sion only on Monday.
The city council passed
a mobile food vending
ordinance in 2013, set-
ting design and safety stan-
dards, banning seating and
requiring that the trucks
move each night. The
ordinance stated that the
number of $500-per-year
licenses that were initially
issued would be the city’s
cap, and at the time only
three of the 10 local food
trucks applied for a license.
According to a memo in
Monday’s agenda packet
from city planner Clint
Spencer, the city receives
one to two inquiries per
month about setting up a
food truck in town, even
though all three of the
city’s licenses are currently
in use.
The survey, avail-
able in English and Span-
ish at hermiston.or.us, had
received 548 responses by
Friday.
During Monday’s meet-
ing the council will also
discuss the League of Ore-
gon Cities’ legislative pri-
orities for next year’s ses-
sion. The League solicits
feedback from cities ahead
of each long session about
what its lobbying priori-
ties should be. The council
will discuss the priorities
during a 6 p.m. work ses-
sion before selecting pri-
orities at the regular 7 p.m.
meeting.
Other items on Mon-
day’s agenda include a
proclamation for National
Night Out, committee
reports and an executive
session on real property
transactions.
The city council meets
at 7 p.m. the second and
fourth Monday of each
month at city hall, 180
N.E. Second St.
———
Contact Jade McDowell
at jmcdowell@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-564-4536.
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