(Beijing = Yonhap News) Correspondent Jong-gu Han and Jeong Seong-jo = China announced that it would extend the moratorium on imposing 24% additional tariffs on American imports by two months until January of next year.
China decided to postpone for another two months measures to strengthen export controls on rare earth materials and technology for which the grace period has expired, sanctions against five U.S. subsidiaries of Hanwha Ocean that participated in the Korea-U.S. MASGA (Make American Shipbuilding Great Again) project, and sanctions imposed on U.S. military companies during the U.S.-China tariff war.
This is a follow-up to the agreement between the US and China to extend the existing 'trade truce' last September.
China's State Council Tariffs Committee announced on the 9th that it would extend the suspension of the 24% additional tariff on US imports by two months from 1:01 p.m. on the 10th (China time) on the 9th.
However, the existing 10% additional tariff will remain the same.
The Chinese side explained that this measure was taken to implement the agreement reached at the summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping held in Washington, DC.
Previously, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Besant announced that after a meeting in Washington with Chinese Vice Premier Heifeng of the State Council on September 23, they agreed to extend the U.S.-China trade truce, which was scheduled to end on November 10, by two months until January 10 of next year.
After the Busan summit in October last year, the United States and China agreed to postpone some trade retaliatory measures, such as high tariffs, for one year until November 10 of this year.
On this day, China's Ministry of Commerce announced that it would further postpone the strengthening of export controls on superhard materials such as artificial diamonds, some rare earth equipment and raw materials, heavy rare earth metals and alloys, lithium and artificial graphite materials used in battery manufacturing, and rare earth-related technologies until January 10 of next year.
The rare earth export control measures announced in October of last year were evaluated as the 'weaponization' of strategic minerals, including strengthening end-user screening and extraterritorial application (applying Chinese regulations to overseas products where Chinese rare earths exceed a very small value ratio or Chinese technology is used).
China's Ministry of Commerce also decided to postpone for another two months the sanctions it imposed on five U.S. subsidiaries of Hanwha Ocean for cooperating with the U.S. Trade Representative's (USTR) investigation into Article 301 of the Trade Act targeting China's shipping, logistics, and shipbuilding industries.
At the time, the targets of sanctions included Hanwha Philly Shipyard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which President Lee Jae-myung visited in August last year as a symbol of the 'Masga' project, as well as Hanwha Shipping, Hanwha Ocean USA International, Hanwha Shipping Holdings, and HS USA Holdings.
Retaliatory sanctions that had been applied to U.S. military companies during the tariff war were also suspended.
The targets include 16 companies, including Hipoint Aerotech, a defense and robotics system company, and Universal Logistics Holdings, a logistics company, which are prohibited from exporting dual-use materials (materials that can be used for both military and civilian purposes), and 11 companies, including Skydio, the largest U.S. drone manufacturer, which was listed as an "untrustworthy company" due to arms sales to Taiwan.
However, China did not let down its guard against changes in US tariff policy. The position is that China will retaliate only if the United States keeps its promise.
The Tariff Committee of the State Council emphasized on this day, "We are paying attention to the fact that the United States has announced that it plans to replace tariffs based on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which has lost effect due to a court ruling, with tariffs under Article 301 of the Trade Act. We will closely monitor the United States' follow-up actions and adjust related retaliatory tariff measures at an appropriate time depending on the situation."
At the same time, he argued that this extension of the tariff suspension will provide a stable and predictable policy environment for companies in both countries and will be conducive to the stable development of U.S.-China economic and trade relations.
Earlier, on the 6th, Deputy Prime Minister Heo had a video call with Minister Besant and U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Jamison Greer and discussed trade issues between the two countries.
At the time, China expressed serious concern about the United States' recent economic and trade restrictions against China, and the United States urged China to faithfully implement existing trade agreements.
