唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)周二上午暗示将与印度发生贸易冲突,但总统的政策已经导致两国贸易紧张一年多了。
“印度对美国产品征收关税由来已久。再也不能接受了!”特朗普在推特上写道,类似于他在与北京的贸易冲突中对中国的指控。
上个月,印度对美国征收关税,美国此前也对印度征收关税。
尽管公众的注意力主要集中在与中国的贸易紧张上,但特朗普政府自2018年以来一直与印度发生贸易纠纷。以国家安全为由,2018年3月特朗普决定对钢铁和铝进口征收关税,印度是受此影响的国家之一。据统计,印度约有7.61亿美元的钢铁进口受到25%关税的影响,而3.82亿美元的铝进口受到10%关税的影响分析彼得森国际经济研究所的。
6月28日,出席20国集团大阪峰会期间与唐纳德·特朗普总统的会晤。布兰登·斯米洛夫斯基/法新社/盖蒂图片社
特朗普政府还在3月份决定取消印度根据1974年《贸易法》被指定为发展中受益国的做法,谚语“印度没有向美国保证,印度将提供公平合理的市场准入。”今年6月生效的地位转移意味着印度不再免除某些产品的关税。印度对美国56亿美元的出口受到影响。
印度上月回应称,将把关税提高至70美国进口商品清单上的百分比。
新德里的目标是西海岸的农产品。彼得森国际经济研究所的雷金纳德·琼斯高级研究员查德·鲍恩说:“印度的关税报复将主要打击美国加州的杏仁出口(6亿美元)和华盛顿州的苹果出口。”新闻周刊在邮件里。
印度是美国的第九大商品贸易伙伴和不断升级的贸易冲突会影响到许多产品。美国去年向印度出口了331亿美元的商品,同时进口了544亿美元,美国的贸易逆差为213亿美元。
美国去年向印度出口了价值79亿美元的贵金属和宝石,这是最有价值的出口类别。美国还输送了62亿美元的矿物燃料、30亿美元的飞机和22亿美元的机械。去年,美国从印度进口了110亿美元的贵金属和宝石、63亿美元的药品、33亿美元的机械、32亿美元的矿物燃料和28亿美元的汽车。
除了对钢铁和铝征收高额关税之外,印度的进口关税也影响了电器、机械和化学制品。
布朗在对贸易紧张局势的分析中写道:“总的来说,这些关税的提高将使印度出口商更难在美国市场竞争,并可能增加任何美国消费者的成本。”。
目前还不清楚特朗普是否真的会与印度展开更广泛的贸易冲突。
特朗普在寻求重塑全球贸易关系的同时,曾表示贸易战“容易取胜”,并试图将关税威胁作为外交政策工具。
尽管公众对中国和墨西哥的贸易政策以及中国的知识产权政策颇为不满,但奥巴马总统此前曾威胁说,针对两国的贸易升级不会得到实施。
5月底,他似乎准备对所有从墨西哥进口的商品征收关税,称美国的南部邻国没有采取足够措施阻止无证移民进入美国
在关税定于6月份实施前不久,总统宣布美国和墨西哥达成了一项协议,以避免一场潜在的毁灭性贸易战。
他兜售与墨西哥的协议,并在推特上写道:“每个人都对与墨西哥的新协议非常兴奋!”但是纽约时报据报告的几个月前,在与美国官员的讨论中,墨西哥同意了协议的核心条件,特朗普政府无法说服墨西哥接受改变移民庇护程序的新条款。这一披露让人怀疑特朗普是否有意对墨西哥征收关税。
Donald Trump hinted at a trade conflict with India on Tuesday morning, but the president's policies have already caused trade tensions between the two countries for over a year.
"India has long had a field day putting Tariffs on American products. No longer acceptable!" Trump wrote on Twitter, a claim similar to that he has levied against China throughout the trade conflict with Beijing.
Last month, India levied tariffs against the U.S., which had previously issued its own tariffs against India.
While public attention has focused heavily on trade tensions with China, the Trump administration has been engaged in a trade dispute with India since 2018. India was among the countries impacted by Trump's decision in March 2018 to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, citing national security. Some $761 million of steel imports from India were affected by the 25 percent tariff, while $382 million of aluminum imports were affected by the 10 percent tariff, according to analysis from the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
attends a meeting with President Donald Trump during the G20 Osaka Summit on June 28.BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
The Trump administration also decided in March to remove India's designation as a beneficiary developing country under the Trade Act of 1974,saying that "India has not assured the United States that India will provide equitable and reasonable access to its markets." The status shift, which took effect in June, meant that India is no longer exempt from tariffs on certain products. Indian exports to the U.S. on $5.6 billion of goods have been impacted.
India responded last month, saying that it would increase tariffs to as much as 70 percent on a list of U.S. imports.
New Delhi targeted agricultural products along the West Coast. "Indian tariff retaliation will largely hit U.S. almond exports from California ($600 million) and apple exports from Washington state," Chad Bown, the Reginald Jones Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, told Newsweek in an email.
India is America's ninth-largest goods trading partner, and an escalating trade conflict would affect a multitude of products. The U.S. exported $33.1 billion in goods to India while importing $54.4 billion last year, leaving an American trade deficit of $21.3 billion.
The U.S. exported $7.9 billion of precious metals and stones to India last year, the most valuable export category. The U.S. also sent $6.2 billion in mineral fuels, $3.0 billion in aircraft and $2.2 billion in machinery. America imported $11 billion in precious metals and stones, $6.3 billion in pharmaceuticals $3.3 billion in machinery, $3.2 billion in mineral fuels and $2.8 billion in vehicles from India last year.
In addition to the hefty tariffs on steel and aluminum, tariffs on Indian imports have impacted electrical appliances, machinery and chemicals.
"Overall, these tariff increases will make it more difficult for Indian exporters to compete in the U.S. market and will likely raise costs for any American consumers," Brown wrote in his analysis of the trade tensions.
It's unclear whether Trump will actually pursue a wider trade conflict with India.
While seeking to reshape global trade relations, Trump has said that trade wars are "easy to win" and sought to use threat of tariffs as a foreign policy tool.
Despite publicly bristling at the trade policies of China and Mexico and the intellectual property policies of China, the president has previously threatened trade escalations against both countries that were not implemented.
At the end of May, he seemed poised to levy a tariff against all imports from Mexico, saying that America's southern neighbor was not doing enough to stop the flow of undocumented migrants entering the U.S.
Shortly before the tariff was set to go in place in June, the president announced that the U.S. and Mexico had struck a deal to avoid a potentially devastating trade war.
He touted the deal with Mexico and tweeted "Everyone very excited about the new deal with Mexico!" But The New York Timesreportedthat Mexico had agreed to the central conditions of the agreement during discussions with U.S. officials months ago and that the Trump administration could not convince Mexico to accept a new provision that would alter the asylum process for migrants. The revelation cast doubt on whether Trump had intended to levy the tariffs against Mexico.