China and the U.S. imposed their latest scheduled rounds of tariffs on one another’s imports on Sunday, according to The Associated Press.
The slated 15 percent U.S. tariffs on approximately $112 billion in Chinese goods may affect consumer prices for products ranging from shoes to sporting goods, the AP noted, and may mark a turning point in how the ongoing trade war directly affects consumers. Nearly 90 percent of clothing and textiles the U.S. buys from China will also be subject to tariffs.
{mosads}Up to this point, the Trump administration has largely eschewed tariffs on consumer goods, and consumer spending has remained high amid slowdowns in other economic areas such as investment spending and exports. President Trump’s economic advisers, Larry Kudlow and Peter Navarro, have consistently argued the trade conflict will not affect consumers or will do so minimally.
China, meanwhile, began applying tariffs of 5 percent to 10 percent on U.S. goods ranging from frozen sweet corn and pork liver to bicycle tires on Sunday, according to the AP.
The U.S. has scheduled another round of 15 percent tariffs for Dec. 15 covering about $160 billion in Chinese imports. Beijing has vowed retaliatory tariffs that, combined with the Sunday increases, would reportedly cover $75 billion in American products should the Dec. 15 tariffs take effect.
Chinese state media on Sunday knocked the U.S. for the continuing tariffs, arguing they would hurt American interests as well, according to Reuters.
“The United States should learn how to behave like a responsible global power and stop acting as a ‘school bully,’” the official Xinhua news agency said, Reuters noted.
“As the world’s only superpower, it needs to shoulder its due responsibility, and join other countries in making this world a better and more prosperous place. Only then can America become great again,” Xinhua added.