U. S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Tuesday proposed an additional $200 billion in tariffs on Chinese goods, rattling financial markets and
U. S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Tuesday proposed an additional $200 billion in tariffs on Chinese goods, rattling financial markets and setting off fears across the globe that the worst may be yet to come in the ongoing trade dispute between the world’s two largest economies.
The additional tariffs, outlined in a 205-page document, would impose 10 percent duties on a wide swath of Chinese goods, ranging from seafood products to “antiques of an age exceeding one hundred years.” The tariff list hasn’t been finalized and will be examined further during a public comment period, running through August.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, speaking at a news conference Wednesday, noted the government’s concern over the latest trade dispute, stating that “Japan and other countries will focus on the impact of the situation between the U. S. and China.” Suga, however, stopped short of completely condemning the latest trade move.
Even as Tokyo finds itself directly removed from the crosshairs of U. S. President Donald Trump’s latest protectionist measures, domestic firms, and by extension the broader economy, are unlikely to escape unscathed while Japan’s two largest trading partners wage the equivalent of economic war.
“Since China and the U. S. are 40 percent of world GDP, if trade disputes cause growth in both of these countries to fall, then we could see a lot of damage to Japanese exporters,” said Yoko Takeda, chief economist at Mitsubishi Research Institute.
