US holds public hearings on proposed tariffs on Chinese imports

World Today

Jose Mata grinds a steel pipe at the Borusan Mannesmann plant in Baytown, Texas, Monday, April 23, 2018. President Donald Trump’s escalating dispute with China over trade and technology is threatening jobs and profits in working-class communities where his “America First” agenda hit home. Without a waiver, Borusan Mannesmann Pipe may face tariffs of $25 million to $30 million annually if it imports steel tubing and casing from its parent company in Turkey, according to information the company provided to The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Loren Elliott)

Public hearings are underway here in Washington over proposed tariffs on approximately $50 billion worth of Chinese imports.

That tariff threat – part of the United States’ response to what they call unfair trade practices by China. 

Michelle Erickson-Jones of Farmers for Free Trade came to tell Washington she needs China’s export market for her family wheat farm. 

“China is number six on the list of Montana exports for our spring wheat.  They require the high quality that we raise and so in the last five years on average, Montana sent $65 million worth of wheat to China,” she told CGTN.  “So it’s a very important market for Montana, and we also see it as a very important expanding market.”

Erickson-Jones is already featured in an advertisement on the subject airing on her local television station.

Bo Yi, an international trade attorney who teaches at Southeast University Law School traveled all the way from Nanjing, China to testify at the hearing.  He told CGTN, the ongoing trade dispute between the U.S. and China should be resolved at the World Trade Organization.  “Both the United States and China are WTO members,” he said.  “Every trade dispute should be settled under the WTO trade organization standing mechanism.”

CGTN’s Nathan King reports from the tariff hearings before the U.S. Trade Representatives Panel.


Marc Ross discusses the latest news on US-China tariffs

CGTN’s Asieh Namdar spoke with Marc Ross, about American and China trade policy and the future of trade between the two countries. Ross is the Founder and Partner with Caracal Global.