Abstract
[...]as suggested by recent reports, China still condones cyber theft of commercial secrets. [...]an isolated China will have even stronger incentives to adopt unfair practices to achieve economic and technological parity. Round First proposed Imposed Products Value of bilateral imports U.S.-1 October 31, 2017 and November 21, 2017 January 22, 2018 Solar panels, washing machines $10.3 billion China-1 February 5, 2018 investigation April 17, 2018, withdrawn May 18, 2018 Sorghum U.S.-2 February 16, 2018 March 1, 2018 25% tariffs on steel and 10% tariff on aluminum $2.8 billion U.S.-3 U.S. Trade Representative report, March 22, 2018 July 6, 2018 ($34 billion) and August 23, 2018 ($16 billion) 25% tariff of 1,102 products $50 billion China-2 April 2, 2018 Scrap, pork, fruit, nuts $2.4 billion China-3 April 4, 2018 July 6, 2018 ($34 billion) and August 23, 2018 ($16 billion) 25% tariffs on autos, aircraft, soybeans, agriculture $50 billion U.S.-4 April 5, 2018 September 24, 2018 10% tariffs on consumer goods, intermediate goods $200 billion U.S.-5 July 20, 2018 All imports from China $504 billion China-4 August 3, 2018 September 24, 201 8 5-10% tariffs on intermediate inputs, capital equipment $60 billion Sources: U.S. Trade Representative and Chad Bown and Melinda Korp, “Trump’s Trade War Timeline,” Peterson Institute for International Economics, updated September 24, 2018, https://piie.com/blogs/trade-investment-policy-watch/trump-trade-war-china-date-guide The tariffs applied by the two countries are not “remedies” in the sense of correcting market distortions, nor are they preventing, say, sharp adjustments in a declining industry. Even though neither China nor the United States is currently a party to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), that agreement establishes guidelines for competition in areas such as internet openness, data mobility, intellectual property protection, open investment, and the neutrality of state-owned enterprises.