US-China Trade war: US opens door to new tariffs on China

TIL Desk/World/Washington/ The US has opened the door to the imposition of new tariffs on China to protect its fishing industry, especially the lobster fishermen, which it considers “the crown jewel” of the sector. To this end, US President Donald Trump signed a memorandum entitled “Protection of the Lobster Industry”, where he opened the possibility of imposing new taxes on the Asian giant if Beijing does not fulfil its commitment to buy American goods.

“If those purchase commitments are not met, the US Trade Representative has been instructed to impose reciprocal tariffs on the Chinese fishing industry at his discretion,” White House adviser Peter Navarro told reporters on Wednesday. The adviser added that Trump orders the US Department of Agriculture in the memo that the same lobster fishermen be provided with the same assistance that has been given to other sectors to protect them from Chinese levies.

The memorandum recalls that the US lobster industry has especially suffered from tariffs imposed by China since 2018 and are currently between 35-37 per cent depending on the species. Both countries started a trade dispute in 2018 that led to the mutual imposition of tariffs, until in December 2019 they reached an agreement in principle to end the tension.