The trade war between China and the United States is brewing with China announcing plans to impose duties on U.S. goods worth USD 3 billion.
The move is being taken as a response to the Donald Trump’s new duties on Chinese goods worth USD 60 billion.
Trump said the U.S. was resorting to the Section 301 action, after an investigation launched in August 2017 into China’s laws and policies found that China employs “unreasonable or discriminatory practices that burden or restrict U.S. commerce, and violate intellectual property rights.”
Trump added that talks with China are ongoing together with the EU and NAFTA deal.
Impact on the shipping industry
The latest restrictions come as new tariffs on steel and aluminum are set to enter into force in the United States.
On March 1, the U.S. President announced a plan to boost domestic manufacturing by imposing tariffs of 25 pct on imported steel and 10 pct on imported aluminum.
Even though Europe managed to dodge the tariffs, European shipping community, and the maritime industry, in general, is worried what the latest trade restrictions would mean for shipping.
“There is an urgent need for new diplomatic efforts to prevent an escalation,” says Danish Shipping, commenting on the latest trade tensions between the two countries.
The United States and China are the two largest markets for the Danish shipping sector with annual total exports amounting to DKK 38.5 billion. The two countries constitute approximately 23 pct. of the Danish shipping companies’ total export activity.
The organization, which represents the interests of the shipping industry in the country, said the new duties and countermeasures were concerning for the sector.
“A trade war between the Danish shipping companies’ two largest markets is deeply worrying. The shipping industry is among Denmark’s most globalized industries and therefore entirely dependent on continued open world trade,” Jacob K. Clasen, Executive Director at Danish Shipping, said.
Clasen called on the world’s major trading blocks to strengthen dialogue and diplomacy in order to prevent any further escalation of the conflict.
“Trade between China and the USA accounts for roughly 4 percent of global trade, so a dispute between the two countries will harm trade patterns globally. In addition, increased tariffs will send a very wrong signal to the world that more market restrictions may be a plausible way forward. This is the wrong way to go and will ultimately harm consumers all over the world,” he added.
“All parties – the EU, the US and China – must look for solutions through dialogue and do everything possible to avoid a harmful trade war. It is crucial that all parties make every effort to avoid an escalation of the conflict.”
BIMCO’s Chief Analyst Peter Sand said that should the tensions escalate on a larger scale there would lasting consequences for everyone involved in global industries like shipping.
“All trade-restrictive measures are in principle bad for shipping,” Sand said.
“Overall we are seeing more trade-restrictive measures introduced. Some more high profile than others. This is a worrying trend that limits demand for shipping globally.”
Impact on the U.S.
President of the U.S. retail federation Matthew Shay said the administration’s plans to impose broad tariffs on consumer products from China would punish ordinary Americans for China’s violations.
“Middle and working-class Americans are just starting to see the benefits of tax reform in the form of bigger paychecks and higher wages. Engaging in a trade war will erase those gains and result in higher prices for a wide range of consumer products and basic household goods. And the tariffs will create uncertainty for retailers and other businesses who are prepared to reinvest savings from the tax cut in capital investments, wage increases, workforce training and new jobs in communities across the country. “
The U.S. ports, including Port Houston, Port of New Orleans and the Northwest Seaport Alliance, also expressed concern about the impact of the steel and aluminum tariffs, stressing that they would negatively affect the amount of cargo being handled by the ports.
World Maritime News Staff
中國和美國之間的貿易戰正在醞釀，中國宣布計劃對美國商品加徵價值30億美元的關稅。
此舉被視為對唐納川普對中國商品價值600億美元的新稅率的回應。
川普表示，在2017年8月對中國的法律和政策展開調查後，美國正在訴諸第301條行動，發現中國採用“ 無理或歧視性做法，加重或限制美國商業，侵犯知識產權”。
川普補充說，與中國的談判正在與歐盟和北美自由貿易區達成協議。
對航運業的影響
最新的限制是鋼鐵和鋁的新關稅將在美國生效。
3月1日，美國總統宣布了一項計劃，通過對進口鋼鐵徵收25％的關稅和10％進口鋁關稅，刺激國內製造業。
儘管歐洲設法避開關稅，但歐洲航運業和海運業普遍擔心最新的貿易限制對航運產生的影響。
“迫切需要新的外交努力來防止貿易戰擴大，”丹麥航運公司評論了兩國之間最新的貿易緊張局勢。
美國和中國是丹麥航運業的兩大市場，年出口額達385億丹麥克朗。這兩個國家約佔23％。丹麥船公司的總出口活動。
代表該國航運業利益的組織表示，新的稅率和對策與該部門有關。
“丹麥航運公司兩大市場之間的貿易戰令人深感憂慮。航運業是丹麥最全球化的行業之一，因此完全依賴自由開放的世界貿易，“ 丹麥航運執行董事Jacob K. Clasen說。
克拉森呼籲世界主要貿易區塊加強對話和外交，以防止更進一步貿易衝突。
“中美之間的貿易約佔全球貿易的4％，因此兩國之間的爭端將損害全球貿易格局。此外，提高關稅將向世界發出一個非常錯誤的信號，即更多的市場限制可能是一種合理的前進方式。這是一種錯誤的方式，最終會傷害全世界的消費者，“ 他補充說。
“所有各方 - 歐盟，美國和中國 - 都必須通過對話尋求解決方案，並儘一切可能避免有害的貿易戰。各方都盡一切努力避免衝突升級，這一點至關重要。“
BIMCO的首席分析師彼得·桑德表示，如果緊張局勢進一步升級，那麼對於像航運這樣的全球性行業都會產生長久的後果。
Sand說：“所有的貿易限制措施原則上都不利於運輸 。
“總而言之，我們看到更多貿易限制措施的出現。更多的限制的浮現。這是一個令人擔憂的趨勢，限制了全球航運的需求。“
對 美國的影響
美國零售聯合會主席馬修沙伊表示，政府計劃對中國消費品徵收廣泛關稅將懲罰受到中國的違規的行為美國人。
“中產階級和工人階級的美國人剛剛開始看到稅收改革的好處，獲得更大的薪水和更高的工資水平。但參與貿易戰將消除這些好處，並導致各種消費品和基本家用產品的價格上漲。加徵關稅將給零售商和其他企業帶來不確定性，這些零售商和其他企業將準備重新投資因工資增長，勞動力培訓以及全國各地社區的新工作等減下來的稅收...。“
包括休斯頓港，新奧爾良港和西北港聯盟在內的美國港口也對鋼鐵和鋁關稅的影響表示擔憂，並強調它們將對港口處理的貨物數量造成負面影響。
Imformation Source: World Maritime News
Image Courtesy: China Times
