The ball is in the field of China

The ball is in China’s field ‘if he wants to lower the rates imposed by Donald Trump, the white house spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday, ensuring that Washington does not need an agreement’ with Beijing, AFP notes.

‘China wants what we have, what every country wants and what we have: the American consumer. In other words, (the Chinese) need our money. The president clearly stated that he is open to an agreement with China. But China is the one who needs an agreement with the United States, « she added.

The two countries have entered a spiral of the increase of customs duties, hitting each other to increase customs duties to over 125% on both sides on the products imported from its rival.

The United States has imposed a total of 145% customs duties on Chinese products, exceeding those before Donald Trump returned to the White House.

And while the so-called ‘mutual’ customs duties passing beyond 10% have been suspended for 90 days, those targeting China are still in force.

The White House eventually announced on Friday a provisional exemption from surtax for high-tech products, especially for smartphones and computers, as well as for semi-supply, which many come from China.

The US Secretary for Trade, Howard Lutnick, assured that this break is temporary, offering the time to apply sectoral customs duties, which would intervene ‘in a month or two’.

On Monday, his ministry has launched an investigation into this issue, as well as on pharmaceuticals, to determine whether the predominance of imports in these two sectors is a risk to national security.

This is the first step towards introducing sectoral customs duties, in a procedure already used to justify those imposed on steel and aluminum or cars.