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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 24, 2019)
A10 NATION/WORLD East Oregonian Saturday, August 24, 2019 China announces tariff hike on $75 billion of U.S. products in retaliation, deepening a conflict over trade and tech- nology that threatens to tip a weakening global economy into recession. China also will increase import duties on U.S.-made autos and auto parts, the Finance Ministry announced. Tariffs of 10% and 5% will take effect on two batches of goods on Sept. 1 and Dec. 15, the ministry said in a state- ment. It gave no details of what goods would be affected but the timing matches Trump’s planned duty hikes. The announcement comes as leaders of the Group of 7 major economies prepare to meet in France this weekend. Washington is pressing Beijing to narrow its trade surplus and roll back plans for government-led creation of global competitors in robot- ics, electric cars and other technology industries. On Friday, Trump tweeted, “Our great Amer- ican companies are hereby ordered to immediately start looking for an alternative to By JOE MCDONALD, PAUL WISEMAN AND JILL COLVIN Associated Press WASHINGTON — Pres- ident Donald Trump declared Friday that he had “hereby ordered” American compa- nies with operations in China “to immediately start look- ing for” an alternative after Beijing announced a series of retaliatory tariffs. But as markets in the U.S., Asia and Europe tumbled, the White House offered no fur- ther details or explanation of Trump’s intentions. Instead, the president tweeted that he would be “responding to China’s Tar- iffs this afternoon.” “This is a GREAT oppor- tunity for the United States” he wrote. The U.S. has said it plans to impose 10% tariffs on $300 billion of Chinese goods in two steps, on Sept. 1 and Dec. 15. China responded Friday with new tariffs on $75 billion of U.S. products AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File President Donald Trump, left, meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a previous meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan. China, including bringing... your companies HOME and making your products in the USA. I will be respond- ing to China’s Tariffs this afternoon.” There are various poten- tial options, including the possibility of imposing a 25% tariff on all Chinese exports to America, one of the peo- ple said. They spoke to AP on condition of anonymity because they were not autho- rized to disclose details of closed-door meetings. Peter Navarro, who advises Trump on trade pol- icy, tried to downplay the impact of Chinese tariff hikes ahead of the meeting. He said they were “well anticipated” and would only strengthen Trump’s resolve. China’s government appealed to Trump this week to compromise in order to reach a settlement. That came after Trump warned that the American public might need to endure economic pain in order to achieve long-term results. The United States, Europe, Japan and other trading part- ners say Beijing’s develop- ment plans violate its mar- ket-opening commitments and are based on stealing or pressuring foreign compa- nies to hand over technol- ogy. Some American officials worry they might erode U.S. industrial leadership. Chinese leaders have offered to alter details but are resisting giving up a develop- ment strategy they see as a path to prosperity and global influence. The talks are deadlocked over how to enforce any deal. China insists Trump’s puni- tive tariffs have to be lifted as soon as an agreement takes effect. Washington says at least some have to stay to ensure Beijing carries out any promises it makes. Trump announced plans to raise tariffs Sept. 1 on $300 billion of Chinese prod- ucts after talks broke down in May. Increases on some goods were postponed to Dec. 15. Trump escalated “trade frictions” and is “seriously threatening the multilateral trading system,” the Chi- na’s Finance Ministry said. “China was forced to take countermeasures.” A separate statement said tariffs of 25% and 5% would be imposed on U.S.-made autos and auto parts on Dec. 15. Beijing announced that increase last year but sus- pended it after Trump and his Chinese counterpart, President Xi Jinping, agreed at a meeting in December in Argentina to put off fur- ther trade action while they negotiated. Trump and Xi agreed in June to resume negotiations. But talks in Shanghai in July ended with no indication of progress. Negotiators talked by phone this month and are due to meet again in Wash- ington next month. Putin orders symmetric measures after U.S. tests cruise missile deploy the previously banned missiles in different parts of the world.” He ordered the Defense Ministry and other agencies to “take comprehensive mea- sures to prepare a symmetri- cal answer.” The U.S. said it withdrew from the treaty because of Russian violations, a claim that Moscow has denied. In an interview this week with Fox News, Defense Sec- retary Mark Esper asserted that the Russian cruise mis- siles Washington has long claimed were a violation of the now-defunct Intermedi- ate-range Nuclear Forces, or INF, treaty, might be armed with nuclear warheads. “Right now Russia has possibly nuclear-tipped cruise — INF-range cruise missiles facing toward Europe, and Associated Press MOSCOW — Presi- dent Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian military on Fri- day to work out a quid pro quo response after the test of a new U.S. missile banned under a now-defunct arms treaty. In Sunday’s test, a modi- fied ground-launched version of a U.S. Navy Tomahawk cruise missile accurately struck its target more than 310 miles away. The test came after Moscow and Washing- ton withdrew from the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. Speaking at a meeting of his Security Council, Putin charged that the U.S. waged a “propaganda campaign” alleging Russian breaches of the pact to “untie its hands to that, that’s not a good thing,” Esper said. The Russian leader noted that Sunday’s test was per- formed from a launcher sim- ilar to those deployed at a U.S. missile defense site in Roma- nia. He argued that the Roma- nian facility and a prospective similar site in Poland could also be loaded with missiles intended to hit ground targets instead of interceptors. Putin has previously pledged that Russia wouldn’t deploy the missiles previously banned by the INF Treaty to any area before the U.S. does that first, but he noted Friday that the use of the universal launcher means that a covert deployment is possible. “How would we know what they will deploy in Romania and Poland — mis- sile defense systems or strike LEASE AN ALL NEW 2019 Gas only. Hybrid models slightly higher. LE Adventure AWD $ 0 $ 239 mo. 36 mos. AWD Security $ 2,899 Deposit Due at Signing $ 2,899 $ 0 Security $ 299 mo. Deposit Due at Signing 36 mos. LEASE A NEW 2019 3.5-liter V6 direct-injection engine Over 10,000 lbs of towing capacity Double Cab SR5 4X4 Excludes TRD Pro $ 2,999 $ 0 Security $ 359 mo. Deposit Due at Signing 36 mos. TRD Off-Road Double Cab Excludes TRD Pro 4X4 $ 2,999 $ 0 Security $ 259 mo. Deposit Due at Signing 36 mos. 2019 Gas or Hybrid! 0.9 % APR for 60 Months OR 1,500 $ 5 USB Ports Seating for up to 8 2019 NHTSA 5 Star Overall Safety Rating! 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He said the U.S. launch system in Romania, known as Aegis Ashore, “does not have the capability to fire offensive weapons of any kind,” includ- ing a cruise missile like the Tomahawk variant used in the Aug. 18 U.S. test. “It can only launch the SM-3 interceptor, which does not carry an explosive war- head,” Carver said, adding that it would take “industri- al-level construction to recon- figure it to fire offensive weapons. That reconfigura- tion would entail major equip- ment installation and soft- ware changes.” Russia long has charged that the U.S. launchers loaded with missile defense intercep- tors could be used for firing surface-to-surface missiles. Putin said that Sunday’s test has proven that the U.S. deni- als have been false. “It’s indisputable now,” the Russian leader said. He added the missile test that came just 16 days after the INF treaty’s termination has shown that the U.S. long had started work on the new systems banned by the treaty. While Putin hasn’t spelled out possible retalia- tory measures, some Mos- cow-based military experts theorized that Russia could adapt the sea-launched Kalibr cruise missiles for use from ground launchers. The Interfax news agency quoted a retired Russian gen- eral, Vladimir Bogatyryov, as saying that Moscow could put such missiles in Cuba or Ven- ezuela if the U.S. deploys new missiles near Russian borders. Putin said Russia will con- tinue working on new weap- ons in response to the U.S. moves, but will keep a tight lid on spending. “We will not be drawn into a costly arms race that would be disastrous for our econ- omy,” Putin said, adding that Russia ranks seventh in mil- itary spending after the U.S., China, Saudi Arabia, Britain, France and Japan. He added Russia remains open to an “equal and con- structive dialogue with the U.S. to rebuild mutual trust and strengthen interna- tional security.”
