US' Proposed China Tariffs Would Target Robotics, Satellites (engadget.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Engadget: The U.S. Trade Representative has published the list of Chinese products that would be subject to its proposed tech tariffs, and there are a few clear themes. The move would hike the costs of about 1,300 products, including industrial robots, communication satellites, spacecraft and a slew of semiconductors.The aim, as before, is to punish China for allegedly goading American companies into transferring their patents and technology to Chinese firms for the sake of claiming economic superiority. The USTR claimed the proposed tariffs would stymie Chinese plans while "minimizing the impact" on the American economy. The tariffs are still subject to a 60-day notice process that would include public comments until May 11th and a public hearing on May 15th.

Comments

Re:I guess we're in a trade war

[AmiMoJo]

Don't discount the economic damage done by the cheap knockoff process - it's so common that it's become a meme. It's nigh impossible for anyone to make electronics in China any more, even small hobbyist designers (think Adafruit and Sparkfun) get their products copied and sold for pennies.

So the Chinese are basically IKEA... They clone more expensive furniture, mass produce it out of cheap materials and massively undercut the master craftsmen who built the originals.

Then there's selling steel and aluminum at below-market prices until our domestic producers go out of business

That is indeed a problem, but pissing off your allies who you need to solve that problem by slapping them with tariffs too isn't the way to solve it.

Then there's the lack of IP enforcement, so that lots of Chinese run pirated code and view bootleg media without paying for it.

On the other hand, there's a ridiculous level of IP enforcement in the US. Perpetual copyright, ridiculous patents on rounded corners, even patent trolls whose sole business is suing other people who can't afford to defend themselves. Also, it's not like piracy is rare in the west either.

Then there's keeping their currency artificially low, so that we always have a trade deficit with them

The US is just as bad, with corporate welfare programmes and bailouts. The way to fix it is not to double up and start a trade war, it's to do what the EU does and agree to some rules banning it in exchange for trade.