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Trade War
Japan's trade minister said this week that he has failed to win assurances from US officials that the key US ally will be exempt from tariffs, some of which take effect on Wednesday. Yoji Muto was in Washington for last ditch negotiations over the tariffs on a range of Japanese exports including cars, steel and aluminum. Muto said Monday in Washington that Japan, which contributes to the US economy by heavily investing and creating jobs in the United States, should not be subject to 25% tariffs on steel, aluminum and auto exports to America. His meetings with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and White House economic advisor Kevin Hassett came just two days before the steel and aluminum tariffs are due to take effect. President Donald Trump has also said a possible 25% tariff on imported foreign autos could take effect in early April. Muto said the US officials acknowledged Japanese contributions and agreed to continue talks, but did not .
China's Commerce Ministry on Thursday accused the European Union of making unreasonable demands in its investigation into imports of Chinese electric vehicles before announcing it was raising tariffs by as much as 38 per cent. Ministry spokesman He Yadong said the European side had demanded excessive amounts of information from Chinese automakers and then unfairly accused the Chinese companies of failing to cooperate. The types, scope, and amount of information collected by the European side are unprecedented, far exceeding the requirements of anti-subsidy investigations, He said. He said that included requiring details on manufacturing and development, technology and product formulas, among other aspects, from Chinese electric vehicle and battery companies. "After Chinese companies did their best to cooperate with the investigation and provided information, the European Commission still unreasonably accused Chinese companies of not fully cooperating and imposed punitive high tax ..