KEY TAKEAWAYS
- China retaliated against new U.S. tariffs soon after they took effect Tuesday, imposing duties on the imports of some American goods and launching an antitrust probe into Google, broadening the trade war between the world’s two largest economies.
- Beijing also placed Calvin Klein parent PVH Corp. and gene-sequencing company Illumina under its “unreliable entity” list, according to the government’s official Xinhua News Agency.
- Beijing’s measures have been more limited than the U.S. curbs, which entail a broad 10% tariff on imports from China and kicked off at midnight ET Tuesday.
China retaliated against new U.S. tariffs soon after they took effect Tuesday, imposing duties on the imports of some American goods and launching an antitrust probe into Alphabet’s (GOOGL) Google, broadening the trade war between the world’s two largest economies.
Beijing also restricted the exports of some key minerals to the U.S. and placed Calvin Klein parent PVH Corp. (PVH) and gene-sequencing company Illumina (ILMN) under its “unreliable entity” list, according to the government’s official Xinhua News Agency.
Still, Beijing’s measures are more limited than President Donald Trump’s 10% import tariffs on all goods from China. Those U.S. levies add to existing tariffs imposed under the first Trump administration.
The iShares MSCI China ETF (MCHI) is rising in premarket trading, as are U.S.-listed shares of Chinese e-commerce giants Alibaba (BABA), JD.com (JD), and Temu parent PDD Holdings (PDD). Shares of Walmart (WMT), Target (TGT), and Amazon (AMZN), who source a lot of products from China, are little changed. The more targeted companies, PVH and Illumina, are down by roughly 6% and 5%, respectively.
China Imposes 15% Tariffs on US Coal, LNG, 10% on Crude Oil
Beijing said that starting Feb. 10, it will impose a 15% tariff on U.S coal and liquefied natural gas (LNG), and a 10% levy on “crude oil, agricultural machinery, large-displacement cars and pickup trucks.”
China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) also said it was opening an antitrust probe into Google but gave few details. Most Google services, including Gmail and YouTube, already are banned in China. Alphabet is slated to report fourth-quarter results after the bell.
The U.S.’s two other big trading partners, Canada and Mexico, on Monday managed to get a temporary reprieve from imminent 25% tariffs after the White House delayed the curbs for 30 days. The two had pledged to crack down on fentanyl trafficking.
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