Donald Tump's list for China has multiple surprises

Washington: US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Chinese imports mostly shield consumers by targeting supply-chain components — but lurking inside the tariff lists are some surprises, from Google Nest thermostats to vaping devices to equipment used by aspiring rock stars.

In an escalating tit-fot-tat trade war, the US has threatened to impose duties on up to $450 billion of Chinese imports, with the first $34 billion portion set to go into effect next month.

The first round of tariffs seeks to avoid consumer end products, suggesting a carefully crafted strategy to avoid a direct tax on voters.

But some consumer items will be affected, a Reuters analysis showed. And should the Trump administration escalate tariffs to the full $450 billion as threatened, it would have to put tariffs on just about everything.

The US imported $506 billion in Chinese goods last year. “By the time you get to $200 billion, you’re going to start to affect products consumed by every member of the family,” said Hun Quach, vice president of international trade for the Retail Industry Leaders Association.

According to a Reuters analysis of the 1,102 products targeted by the US Trade Representative office, initially just 1 per cent that will have a 25 per cent tariff slapped on them in stages from July 6 are “consumer goods.”

Under the categories developed by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the most comprehensive database for determining the uses of goods traded between two countries, most of the targeted products are classified as either “capital goods” or “intermediate items.”

The idea is to force companies to shift their supply chains away from China or boost efficiencies to make up any cost differences. But ultimately, that would still hurt US consumers, industry leaders say.

The first round of tariffs seeks to avoid consumer end products, suggesting a carefully crafted strategy to avoid a direct tax on
voters.

The idea is to force companies to shift their supply chains away from China or boost efficiencies to make up any cost differences.