With the approval of the State Council, the State Council tariff Commission decided to suspend duty reduction obligations for some imported goods originating in the United States, with effect from April 2, 2018, according to the Department of Finance's website.
On March 8, 2018, President Trump of the United States signed a notice confirming that the import of steel and aluminum products posed a threat to US national security, and decided to take effect from March 23, 2018. The imposition of tariffs on imports of steel and aluminium products (i.e. 232 measures). 232 measures violate the relevant rules of the World Trade Organization, do not comply with the "safety exception" provisions, and in effect constitute safeguards. The measure has been implemented since March 23, causing serious harm to China's interests. In order to safeguard the interests of our country and balance the losses caused by the US 232 measures to our interests, since 2 April 2018, I have suspended tariff reduction obligations on 128 items of imports originating in the United States and imposed tariffs on the basis of the current applicable tariff rates. The tariff rate on 120 imported goods, including fruits and products, is 15 percent, and the tariff rate on eight imported goods, such as pork and products, is 25 percent. The current bonded, tax reduction and exemption policies remain unchanged.
China advocates and supports the multilateral trading system, and the duty to suspend tariff reduction to the United States is a legitimate measure taken by China to use WTO rules to safeguard our interests.
