US imposes 25% tariff on Chinese technology

US President Donald Trump announced on Friday that the United States will impose a 25 percent tariff on $50 billion worth of Chinese technology products. Both countries are prepared to escalate the situation even further.

According to the White House, these are goods that contain “important technologies in the industrial sense”. At the same time, that would be goods covered by the country’s Made in China 2025 plan, which aims to strengthen China’s market position in areas such as technology. A list of goods that fall under the measure includes touchscreens, batteries, electric motors, transistors and other parts of televisions, cameras and radio receivers. The Verge notes that, surprisingly, the list does not include telephones or fully curated TVs.

With the measure, Trump wants to protect the US economy. Trade between the two countries has been “unfair for a very long time.” The charges are also in retaliation for “stealing American intellectual property.”

The US measures will be maintained from 6 July. President Trump’s statement also states that the country is willing to introduce further tariffs if China retaliates in the form of its own tariffs. According to The Washington Post, China is not backing down: tariffs of “the same scale and severity” are said to be in the works. China is targeting cars, energy and agricultural products, important exports for Trump voters in rural areas of the US.