U.S. Trade Tariffs on China Near $100 Billion

The U.S. has now collected more than $96 billion in tariffs from China during the trade war that started during the Trump administration, according to new data released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The Trump administration justified the tariffs after the Commerce Department conducted a Section 301 investigation and concluded that China was stealing technology and intellectual property. China responded by retaliating with its own tariffs on billions of dollars’ worth of U.S. soybeans, pork, sorghum and other agricultural commodities.

The U.S. Section 301 tariffs remain in place, but China has been temporarily lifting its tariffs on U.S. commodities on an ad hoc basis, following the “phase one” trade pact that was reached early last year.
Separately, the U.S. also maintains Section 232 tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum. The Chinese retaliation to those tariffs remains in place on U.S. almonds, apples, pork, oranges, walnuts, dairy and other commodities.

EDITOR’S TAKE:
With numbers like these, it’s easy to see how distorted trading patterns can become. However, in the case of China where intellectual property rights have little or no meaning, something had to be done. Was it the correct move?  The tariffs certainly got their attention and has cost them a lot of money in the process. Will we ever have “fair trade” with China? Unlikely if their goal is world domination. For the foreseeable future it looks as though the tariffs will remain.