China will continue to exclude selected US imports from higher tariffs until the end of November, according to the State Council's Customs Tariff Commission on Monday.
According to a prior declaration published in September last year, specific products from the United States were exempted from tariff countermeasures against Section 301 measures until April 30, 2024.
China Extends Tarrifs Exemptions on Selected US Products
The exemption will be extended until November 30, 2024, according to a statement from the commission.
The Tariff Law, passed by China's top legislature after three rounds of deliberations dating back to 2022, connects to China's major trading partners willingness to respond if they impose duties on the world's second-largest economy's exports.
According to Reuters, it is the most recent addition to Beijing's arsenal of trade defense instruments, as the country maintains an uneasy truce with Washington following a trade battle that began while Donald Trump was president.
The law, which goes into effect on December 1, details a number of legislative regulations governing taxes on Chinese imports and exports, ranging from what constitutes tax incentives to China's power to retaliate against countries that violate trade accords.
It was approved on the same day that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited China for negotiations that yielded little progress on thorny subjects such as US concerns about cheap Chinese exports.
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China's Increased Trade Defense
Since President Xi Jinping took office in 2012, Beijing has increased its trade defense capabilities, enacting laws that give officials the authority to retaliate against countries that disagree with China's trading practices by interfering with the movement of goods, data, and personnel between markets.
Rising tensions between China, the United States, and the European Union have only strengthened Beijing's perception that it needs to consolidate and improve the measures at its disposal, according to analysts.
Growing concerns about Chinese industrial overcapacity flooding the European Union with low-cost goods are establishing a new front in the West's trade battle with Beijing, which began with Washington's import tariffs in 2018.
Brussels is currently considering whether to impose taxes on Chinese electric vehicles, while Beijing is pursuing its own anti-dumping investigation on EU goods, The Economic Times reported.
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