Tariffs on China to 'hit home for every American,' warn US industries
0 Comment(s)
Print
E-mail Xinhua, May 27, 2019
Aggressive but counterproductive
The U.S. position on solving trade disputes with China by using tariffs is "very aggressive" but "counterproductive," said Steve Hoffman, a veteran investor and CEO of Founders Space, a leading incubator and accelerator in Silicon Valley.
"Right now, the negative impacts of the U.S.-China trade conflicts are broadening beyond (U.S.) agriculture and beyond commodities, like steel and other stuff, into consumer electronics and other areas. And that could have a big impact in my home turf which is Silicon Valley," Hoffman told Xinhua.
U.S. tariffs on tech product imports from China increased fivefold from 2017 to 2018, said Stefanie Holland, vice president for federal and global policy of the Computing Technology Industry Association.
"Should a 25-percent tariff rate apply to all tech product imports the costs could run into the tens of billions of dollars," said Holland, adding that barriers to trade will also "negatively impact the products that are designed, developed and manufactured in the United States."
According to a recent report by Swiss investment bank UBS, over 12,000 U.S. brick-and-mortar stores of apparels and textiles would be at risk because of the possible new tariffs.
The big wave of store closures would be highly negative and create intense inventory dislocations and discounting in addition to impacts on jobs and the economy, the report said.
The Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America, a trade organization, estimated the new tariffs could cost U.S. consumers 7 billion dollars a year.
"It is time to bring this trade war to an end," said an open letter signed by 173 footwear companies and retailers.
In a study released Thursday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said U.S. tariff revenue collected from levies on Chinese goods "has been borne almost entirely by U.S. importers."
"The bilateral trade deficit remains broadly unchanged," it added.
The latest U.S. tariff hikes will impose a total annual cost of 831 dollars for a typical U.S. household, said a research posted Thursday by the Federal Reserve (Fed) Bank of New York.
"In sum, according to our estimates, these higher tariffs are likely to create large economic distortions and reduce U.S. tariff revenues," it said.
Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)