China Decides To Lower Some Tariffs

Yesterday morning, in an op-ed we published in a Chinese news outlet, we made the case that assuaging the Trump administration will be difficult, and that instead of responding to Trump, China should just focus on being a good citizen of the world trading system. In this context, we said this:

China should unilaterally open up its markets to the greatest extent possible, as a sign of its good faith … includ[ing] tariff reductions.

Later in the day, we saw this Bloomberg story:

China is planning to cut average tariff rates on imports from the majority of its trading partners as soon as next month, two people familiar with the matter said, in a move that would lower costs for consumers as a trade war with the U.S. deepens.

The two people asked not to be named because the matter isn’t public yet. Premier Li Keqiang said Wednesday that China would reduce tariffs, though he didn’t elaborate. 

It’s not yet clear how the planned reduction would affect imports from the U.S., if at all, including Chinese retaliatory tariffs on American products amid the trade war. Those details may only emerge once the government outlines which products will enjoy lower tariffs. …

Now, we’re not claiming cause and effect here, but we’re thinking of making some more requests!

But seriously, we think it is pretty unlikely that our piece led to the Chinese government’s decision here. Nevertheless, this is a positive development. It is helpful that China is recognizing that liberalization is beneficial, and that as a major world economy, it needs to lead by example when it calls itself a defender of “the principles of free trade and the multilateral trading system.”  China has a long way to go to become a true market economy, but this is a good step.