Washington, May 29 (EFE).- The US government will impose 25 percent tariffs on certain Chinese products containing “industrially significant technology” as part of its plan to combat the theft of intellectual property it has accused Beijing of engaging in, the White House said Tuesday.
“The United States will implement specific investment restrictions and enhanced export controls for Chinese persons and entities related to the acquisition of industrially significant technology,” the White House said in a statement.
Specifically, the Donald Trump administration announced that it will impose a 25 percent tariff, valued at a total of $50 billion, on Chinese imports containing industrial technology that Washington deems to violate intellectual property regulations.
The measure, to which other similar yet-to-be-announced moves will be added, will go into effect on June 30.
The White House also said that Trump is planning to take “multiple steps” to protect US technology and intellectual property from certain “discriminatory and burdensome trade practices by China.”
The announcement comes 10 days after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that the trade war with China has been put “on hold” after a series of talks in Washington with a top-level Chinese delegation headed by Liu He, the main economic adviser to President Xi Jinping.
This weekend, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is scheduled to travel to Beijing with the aim of reducing tensions with the Asian giant.
Trump, however, said last week that he is not “satisfied” with trade negotiations with China.
The US had demanded that Beijing reduce its trade surplus with Washington by $200 billion if it wants to avoid further trade sanctions.