 China, S.Korea hit out at new US trade tariffs Beijing (AFP) Jan 23, 2018 - China and South Korea on Tuesday hit out at a US decision to impose stinging tariffs on imported solar panels and washing machines, which marked the latest salvo in Donald Trump's "America First" drive. The US president approved the steep tariffs -- up to 50 percent on large washing machines over three years and up to 30 percent on solar panels over four years -- to protect US producers, US trade officials said. But South Korea, which signed a free-trade agreement with former President George W. Bush, immediately said it would file a petition against the US at the World Trade Organization. The country's Trade Minister Kim Hyun-chong said the tariffs were "excessive" and may constitute a "violation of WTO provisions". Samsung, South Korea's biggest firm, said the tariffs were "a tax on every consumer who wants to buy a washing machine". In Beijing the commerce ministry warned that "together with other WTO members, China will resolutely defend its legitimate interests", though it did not indicate any specific counteraction. The US moves "not only aroused the concern of many trading partners but was also strongly opposed by many local governments and downstream enterprises in the US", the ministry said in statement attributed to Wang Hejun, the director of the trade remedy and investigation bureau. Beijing "expresses its strong dissatisfaction", Wang said. China is the United States' biggest trade partner nation but Trump has often hit out at what he calls unfair practices by Beijing, accusing it of killing US jobs. While running for office, Trump threatened to pull out of the WTO and his hostility to the world trade body has not let up while in office. Last Friday, the Geneva-based body sided with Beijing in setting a firm date this summer for Washington to implement a ruling faulting the US's anti-dumping measures against Chinese products. The US had previously lost a case with China on how it calculates the price of imports to determine predatory pricing, and said in June 2017 that it would implement the panel's recommendations within a "reasonable" timeframe. The WTO arbitrator gave Washington until August 22 to implement the ruling.
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President Donald Trump has approved steep tariffs on imports of solar panels and washing machines to protect US producers, US trade officials announced Monday.
The move was quickly decried by the solar industry, which said the tariffs would create a "crisis" and cost thousands of US jobs and billions in investment without helping domestic suppliers meet rising demand.
US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said the tariffs were imposed after an "exhaustive" review by USTR and the independent US International Trade Commission which determined US producers were "seriously injured by imports."
The administration imposed tariffs of up to 50 percent on imports of large residential washing machines over three years, and up to 30 percent on solar panels over four years.
"The president's action makes clear again that the Trump administration will always defend American workers, farmers, ranchers and businesses in this regard," Lighthizer said in a statement.
It was just the latest trade case in which Trump has aggressively moved to curtail China's trade might.
Chinese-made washing machine imports led to a "substantial" decline in market share for US producers, according to USTR.
- 'Disappointment' in the solar industry -
And imports of cheap, Chinese-made solar panels helped triple US annual solar electricity generation between 2012 and 2016. But those imports drove prices down by 60 percent, causing most US producers to cease production or declare bankruptcy, the USTR said.
The rising imports were spurred on by China's use of state incentives, subsidies and tariffs, and manufacturers have evaded compensatory US tariffs by repeatedly shifting production to new countries, USTR said.
The US ITC investigation into solar imports was launched following complaints from US companies Suniva, a bankrupt Chinese-owned firm, and SolarWorld, owned by a German concern that declared insolvency in May.
The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) said its members expressed "disappointment" at the decision.
The new tariffs will cause the loss of about 23,000 American jobs and the cancelation or delay of billions of dollars in solar investment, the group said in a statement.
The tariffs will not help meet US demand but "will create a crisis in a part of our economy that has been thriving, which will ultimately cost tens of thousands of hard-working, blue-collar Americans their jobs," SEIA President Abigail Ross Hopper said.
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