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posted by martyb on Friday March 23 2018, @08:34AM   Printer-friendly
from the buy-your-tech-stuff-now dept.

President Trump has signed a presidential memorandum directing the U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to draw up a list of Chinese products on which tariffs could be imposed. The list will be made public in 15 days, and tariffs will take effect after a 60-day comment period:

The US plans to impose tariffs on up to $60bn (£42.5bn) in Chinese goods and limit the country's investment in the US in retaliation for years of alleged intellectual property theft.

The White House said the actions were necessary to counter unfair competition from China's state-led economy. It said years of talks had failed to produce change. China said it was ready to retaliate with "necessary measures". Beijing also said it would "fight to the end" in any trade war with the US.

US stock markets closed lower on Thursday, as investors responded to the announcement. [...] The White House said it has a list of more than 1,000 products that could be targeted by tariffs of 25%. Businesses will have the opportunity to comment before the final list goes into effect.

Reuters portrays the action as "far removed from threats that could have ignited a global trade war". Bloomberg notes that many industry trade groups and companies are opposing the tariffs.

Also at NPR and The Hill.

Related: US Government Puts Tariffs on Imported Solar Cells, Solar Modules, and Washing Machines
Major US Solar Company Blames Job Cuts On Trump's Solar Import Tariff
U.S. Steel and Aluminum Imports to Face New Tariffs


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  • (Score: 2) by RamiK on Saturday March 24 2018, @06:58AM (4 children)

    by RamiK (1813) on Saturday March 24 2018, @06:58AM (#657400)

    HEADLINE: China Started the Trade War, Not Trump

    Kindergarten rhetoric aside, Trump withdrew from the TPP three days after assuming office. Now, whether it was a brilliant false flag or just a septuagenarian shooting his own foot, it nevertheless served as the opening volley in this over-hyped trade war.

    As for the rest of the article, paywalled.

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  • (Score: 2) by legont on Saturday March 24 2018, @09:00PM (3 children)

    by legont (4179) on Saturday March 24 2018, @09:00PM (#657667)

    Yeah, sorry for the pay-walled link. I was able to read it from my phone. What I found interesting, it reminds us how China forces the US companies to transfer technology and how it is impossible to fight using the regular WTO methods.

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    "Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
    • (Score: 2) by RamiK on Sunday March 25 2018, @02:36AM (2 children)

      by RamiK (1813) on Sunday March 25 2018, @02:36AM (#657767)

      But, that's by design. The WTO is there to make nations resolve their issues through fair, non-discriminatory trade without tariffs that lead to warfare. If China restricts foreign ownership on joint ventures and investments to make members transfer IP to Chinese companies at the expense of low-cost labor, they're operating under the TRIPS technology transfer requirement the US signed on - and in fact, proposed. Moreover, if the US feels China is going too far, there's a dispute resolution process in place. Of course, transparency and disclosure during such a process is required so if the US is found to be, for instance, discriminatory in patent application of foreign nationals (hint hint), then the resolution might end up disadvantageous to the US...

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      • (Score: 2) by legont on Sunday March 25 2018, @03:28AM (1 child)

        by legont (4179) on Sunday March 25 2018, @03:28AM (#657776)

        The article says that the US companies are not taking matters to WTO because they fear Chinese retaliation. As far as I understand it's simple blackmail. Yes, a company would eventually win its case, but meantime it would be denied access to cheap Chinese labor and loose the competition; perhaps permanently.. If true, only the government is powerful enough to step in and perhaps Trump really wants to start a trade war to let high tech off the hook.

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        "Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
        • (Score: 2) by RamiK on Monday March 26 2018, @05:59AM

          by RamiK (1813) on Monday March 26 2018, @05:59AM (#658245)

          First off, companies don't take matters to the WTO. Member states do.

          That aside, apparently the USTR launched the challenge to the WTO[1] on the 23rd so state-level retaliation wasn't a concern. Moreover, reading it alongside the report[2] clarifies corporate level retaliation was never a widespread concern either. Rather, following the mentioned articles(27,29(3) and 43(4)[3]) makes it pretty obvious that, while China is indeed violating TRIPS, the USG chose not to act since the mid-90s when TRIPS was signed because the Chinese could have got the same results through taxing patent licensing.

          That is, what Trump doesn't like is how the Chinese effectively limit patent terms to 10 years, how patent improvements are awarded to the party that made the improvements rather than the original patent owner in China, and how 3rd party licensing is allowed there. But, putting aside Trump's notion that patents should keep the Chinese paying for the same patents, and their own development of those patents, indefinitely, what he fails to realize is that the tariffs won't amount to anything since China can just match them while it re-implements the disputed articles through a tax on patent transfers. e.g. A 300% tax rate on profits derived from a patent transfer with a 1-5 years expiry, 200% on 5-13 and 150% on 14-18 would force permanent tech transfers without violating TRIPS. Throw in a German author's right style law to supplement your internal needs for IP-like laws to promote innovation/inequality, and China is WTO/GATT/TRIPS compliant again. And once the network effect kicks in, the whole TRIPS agenda to globalize and normalize patents would have failed.

          Anywho, my two cents is that the state department desperately needs a peon capable of translating their position from compound sentences to 128 character twits. It won't be easy... But we can make America great again.

          1. https://ustr.gov/about-us/policy-offices/press-office/press-releases/2018/march/following-president-trump%E2%80%99s-section [ustr.gov] https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/files/Press/Releases/US%20Cons%20Req%20China%20-%20Final.pdf [ustr.gov]

          2. https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/Section%20301%20FINAL.PDF [ustr.gov]

          3. http://english.mofcom.gov.cn/article/lawsdata/chineselaw/200301/20030100064563.shtml [mofcom.gov.cn]

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