|
The
Tariff Law, which was approved by China's top legislature after
three rounds of deliberations going back to 2022, is the latest
addition to Beijing's arsenal of trade defense instruments as it
maintains an uneasy truce with the U.S. following a trade war
that kicked off during the Trump administration.
The law, which will take effect from Dec. 1, outlines a range of
legal provisions related to tariffs on Chinese imports and
exports, from what constitutes tax incentives to China's right
to hit back at countries that renege on trade agreements.
Beijing has stepped up its trade defense capabilities since
President Xi Jinping came to power in 2012, ushering in laws
empowering officials with ways of retaliating against countries
that take issue with the way China trades by interfering with
the movement of goods, data and personnel between those markets.
Rising tensions between China and the United States and European
Union have only validated Beijing's belief it needs to
consolidate and improve the measures it has at its disposal,
analysts say.
"It's like a nuclear weapon: the point of having it is not to
use it, but to deter others from using the same against you,"
said Henry Gao, professor at Singapore Management University.
"You could argue that this is not really necessary, as when
China upgraded its Foreign Trade Law in 2004, there were
measures on applying retaliatory tariffs," Gao added.
"But I think one point China is trying to make by including this
in the new Tariff Law is that this is our prerogative: If you're
going to hit us with tariffs, we can do the same."
Growing alarm over Chinese industrial overcapacity flooding the
European Union with cheap products is opening a new front in the
West's trade war with Beijing, which kicked off with
Washington's import tariffs in 2018.
Brussels is currently investigating whether to apply tariffs on
Chinese electric vehicles, while Beijing is conducting its own
anti-dumping probe into EU brandy.
(Reporting by Joe Cash, Ellen Zhang and Ryan Woo; Editing by
Muralikumar Anantharaman and Michael Perry)
[© 2024 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
