Tag

#China

3 incidents

Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

2025 Tariff Shock: Sweeping Import Taxes Trigger Global Trade Crisis

The tariff regime was described by the administration as reciprocal response to trade imbalances, but the methodology for calculating tariff rates — dividing trade deficits by import values — was not a recognized economic method and did not reflect actual foreign tariff levels. Economists across the political spectrum warned of consumer price increases, supply chain disruptions, and reduced trade volumes. The tariffs on Chinese goods — reaching 145% cumulatively — effectively ended routine trade in many product categories. Markets fell sharply in the two trading days following the announcement. A 90-day pause was announced for most countries (excluding China) after Treasury Secretary Bessent and other officials lobbied Trump.

Grade 1 of 5: Significant Democratic Concern

Bolton: Trump Told Xi to 'Go Ahead' With Uyghur Detention Camps

According to John Bolton, Trump privately told Xi Jinping that building the Xinjiang detention camps was 'exactly the right thing to do', and repression of the Uyghurs was set aside as a reason for sanctions while trade talks continued. Trump denies the book's account. The Trump administration on July 9, 2020 sanctioned Xinjiang party secretary Chen Quanguo and other officials (Wikipedia) and, on its last full day, declared the persecution a genocide.

Grade 1 of 5: Significant Democratic Concern

Steel and Aluminum Tariffs: Trade War With Allies, WTO Violations, Economic Disruption

The Section 232 tariffs were challenged immediately as legally dubious — U.S. national security law did not contemplate allies as threats, and Canada, Germany, South Korea, and Japan supply steel and aluminum to U.S. defense contractors. The EU, Canada, and Mexico all retaliated with targeted tariffs on politically sensitive U.S. products (Bourbon, Harley-Davidson motorcycles, orange juice, soybeans). The broader China trade war — separate from the steel tariffs — involved escalating rounds of tariffs reaching 25% on $250 billion in Chinese goods; China retaliated against agricultural products; the U.S. government paid $28 billion in direct payments to American farmers to compensate for lost Chinese export markets.