What is (and isn't) on Trump's latest China tariffs list
The Trump administration is readying tariffs on another $200 billion in Chinese imports, ranging from burglar alarms to mackerel, escalating a trade war between the world's two biggest economies.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative proposed 10 percent tariffs July 10 on a list of 6,031 Chinese products. China, which officially responded Wednesday that it was "shocked" at the U.S. action, is expected to retaliate if the new tariffs take effect.
Here's a glimpse of what is and isn't on the list:
Off the list: some major consumer items economists had expected, like cell phones, pharmaceuticals and toys
"This latest list includes consumer products, but it shies away from 'sacred cow' items like cell phones and pharmaceuticals," Height Capital analyst Clayton Allen wrote in a note Wednesday.
Drugs were a "major sticking point" in the initial list of $50 billion tariffs on Chinese goods released in April, Allen said. The White House is likely looking at cell phone handsets the same way, he added.
The list "avoids consumer goods even more than we expected," Goldman Sachs chief economist Jan Hatzius wrote in a note. Instead, apparel, which can be imported from "a variety of countries" to substitute, was totally omitted.
Interestingly, Hatzius noted that many toys, including some that are supplied "almost entirely by Chinese manufacturers," were also left off the list.
On the list: computer components, furniture, auto parts, processed food and appliances including refrigerators
Categories here include:
- technology: network routers, computer components
- pork and other agricultural goods
- a variety of fish including tilapia and some shellfish
- processed foods including pickles, cakes, breads and pastries
- grains including certain kinds of oats and millet as well as flours
- seeds for sowing including vegetables as well as plants like mint
- several kinds of dried beans
- chemicals, plastics, leather and related goods, wood and wood products, paper,
- textiles including raw wool and cotton, and processed animal hairs including goat cashmere
- some base metals including some rare-earth metals used in batteries for high-tech items like mobile phones and aircraft engines
- certain electrical equipment and appliances including refrigerators, vacuum cleaners and air conditioners
- parts for autos, trucks and agricultural equipment
- building blocks and bricks, of cement, concrete or artificial stone, whether or not reinforced
Also on the list: some odd-sounding items, such as human hair and live eels.
Categories here include:
- human hair, unworked, "whether or not washed and scoured"
- live eels
- fake guts used for sausage casing
- clothes made from reptile leather
- heads, tails, paws or other pieces or cuttings from beaver, ermine, wolf and other specified animals
- musical instrument cases, with plastic sheeting or textile surfaces
- dog leashes, collars, muzzles and harnesses
- horse, cowhide and plastic gloves made for sports
- bamboo baskets
- animal furs including rabbit