US to collect 25% duties on $16B Chinese imports starting Aug. 23

UPDATE: August 8, 2018: China's commerce ministry said Wednesday it will impose 25% tariffs on $16 billion worth of U.S. imports starting Aug. 23, Reuters reported.

A draft list of products China released in June contained 114 tariffs lines, but the final list released Wednesday includes 333 categories, although the value of $16 billion remains the same. Products on the new list include fish meal, paper waste, metal scrap and some types of cars, according to Reuters.

Dive Brief:

The U.S. announced Tuesday it will begin collecting tariffs of 25% on $16 billion worth of Chinese goods beginning August 23, according to a release from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR).
The tariffs follow a first round of taxes on $34 billion of imports from China that began July 6, bringing the total to $50 billion.
The latest duties target 279 tariff lines that include several industrial products.

Dive Insight:

The U.S. is moving full steam ahead with tariffs on billions of imports from China.

With tariffs going into effect on a total of $50 billion in Chinese goods — $34 billion that started July 6 and another $16 billion beginning August 23 — the U.S. will be taxing about 10% of the products that come into the country from China. If China decides to retaliate with equal measures, it will end up putting tariffs on nearly 40% of its imports, due to its trade imbalance with the U.S.

Meanwhile, uncertainty remains as to whether the U.S. will follow through with threats of tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese imports, which were proposed in July.

Even as a trade war brews between the two nations (see the full timeline), exports from China to the U.S. rose by double digits in July, the Associated Press reported.

Many businesses trading with China have been scrambling to import and export goods before tariffs take effect, creating record import volumes at U.S. ports.

The list USTR released Tuesday contains 279 tariff lines, although the original proposal on June 15 included 284 categories of duties. USTR removed five lines after receiving written comments and testimony.

Among the items removed from the list were intermodal shipping containers, according to Reuters, with the case made that taxing the goods would cause "severe economic harm." The final tariff list does, however, include railway equipment.