China will remain subject to the US tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, despite the White House announcing this week that the US would hold off on implementing a series of other tariffs against the country, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday.
“As it relates to China, the steel and aluminum tariffs will remain in force. Those were not part of our discussions,” Mnuchin told the Senate Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee Tuesday.
Mnuchin on Sunday said the Trump administration was holding off on plans to impose Section 301 tariffs of $150 billion on Chinese goods as the two countries had agreed on a framework for reducing the US trade deficit and to address intellectual property and technology theft issues.
The tariffs placed on hold are separate from the 25% tariff on steel imports and 10% tariff on aluminum imports the US began implementing March 23 as a result of Section 232 investigations into the effect of these imports on national security.
Details of a potential trade agreement between the US and China have yet to be worked out. China on Tuesday announced it will reduce tariffs on automotive imports from 25% to 15% for passenger vehicles.
— Justine Coyne
