CHINA/FOREIGN POLICY/TRADE DEALS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Trump administration said Monday it would impose new trade barriers aimed at protecting domestic makers of solar panels and washing machines from a recent surge of cheap imports.
The moves begin what Trump aides say will be a year of tougher trade actions, aimed in particular against China…
Specifically, the administration said it would impose tariffs on washing machines at a rate of up to 50%, with the rates phasing out over the next few years. The tariffs would be combined with quotas. Tariffs on solar modules would be as high as 30%, and be phased out over time.
The solar and washer decisions are the first of what is officials have signaled will be a number of 2018 actions invoking little-used trade protection powers as he pursues his ‘America First’ trade agenda…
The Trump administration began considering the trade protections last year after Suniva Inc. and SolarWorld Americas Inc., two embattled solar panel makers with operations in the U.S., asked the U.S. International Trade Commission to declare that they qualified for safeguard relief, and Whirlpool Corp. did the same for its washing machines.
The four-member panel voted unanimously in both cases to support the petitions, and the decision fell to the White House to decide whether and how to impose protections.”
-Jacob M. Schlesinger and Erin Ailworth, “U.S. Imposes Trade Tariffs, Signaling Tougher Line on China,” The Wall Street Journal online, Jan. 22, 2018 05:22pm