Trade war between China and the USA is expanding

China has reiterated its intention to fight the trade dispute with the US to the end. The Ministry of Commerce in Beijing announced that the People’s Republic is consistently sticking to its position in the “trade and customs war”: If there is a “fight”, it will be done until the end. On the part of China, the door is open for negotiations.

At the same time, both nations expanded the trade war. SSince Tuesday, they have been charging port fees on cargo ships that carry everything from toys to crude oil. This means that the trade war between the world’s two largest economies is expanding to include shipping. China announced that special taxes would be levied on ships that are owned, operated, built or flagged by the USA. At the same time, the government in Beijing made it clear that China Ships built are exempt from the taxes. As state broadcaster CCTV reported on Tuesday, the exceptions also apply to empty ships that enter Chinese shipyards for repairs.

The reason for the new statement from Beijing was US President Donald Trump’s recent threat to impose an additional 100 percent tariffs on imports from China to the USA from November 1st. The People’s Republic had previously announced further restrictions on the export of rare earths – important raw materials for industrial companies in all kinds of sectors around the world, in which China is the global market leader.

With its statement, the Commerce Ministry said it responded to a journalist’s question about a “US official’s” statement about a postponed phone call between government representatives from both countries. On Sunday, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told Fox News that China had not notified the US government about the new export controls on rare earths. “When we learned this from public sources, we asked the Chinese for a telephone conversation and they postponed it,” he said.

China has taken note of this fact, the Ministry of Commerce said. The export controls are legally compliant and do not mean an export ban. Applications that met the requirements would be approved, it said. However, companies have long complained that the complicated application processes take weeks and months, with no guarantee of approval at the end.

The Commerce Department emphasized that the US could not want to negotiate on the one hand and threaten new restrictions on the other. China is calling on the government in Washington to correct its “mistaken actions” and to show serious willingness to negotiate.