China Retaliates Against Trump’s Tariffs, Starts Google Probe

China has signalled it will take measures against Google and other American firms, as it responds to the new tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump.

As part of the Chinese retaliation, Reuters reported that Google is now being investigated by a Chinese regulator for suspected breach of anti-monopoly law.

Other Chinese measures includes tariffs against American imports, and other measures targeting American businesses including farm equipment makers and the owner of fashion brand Calvin Klein.

Trump’s tariffs

It comes after Donald Trump caused uproar last weekend, when he had announced a 25 percent import duty on goods from Canada and Mexico to begin on Tuesday 4 February, along with a 10 percent tariff on goods from China.

He also announced a lower 10 percent duty on Canadian energy. It should be noted that Canada supplies roughly 60 percent of all American oil imports and even more of its electricity imports.

Earlier this week the leader of Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, had said he would be “ripping up” a Starlink contract with Elon Musk’s SpaceX in response to sweeping tariffs on Canada announced by Donald Trump.

However after speaking with the leaders of Mexico and Canada, Trump has delayed its tariffs on Mexico and Canada by 30 days to allow negotiations to continue.

However, Reuters reported that within minutes of the US tariffs being imposed on China on Tuesday, Beijing responded by slapping tariffs on US products such as coal, oil and some cars.

Google investigation

Meanwhile China’s State Administration for Market Regulation reportedly said Google was suspected of violating the country’s anti-monopoly law and an investigation was initiated in accordance with the law.

It did not provide further details on the investigation, or on what it alleged Google had done to breach the law.

It should be remembered that Google already has a very frosty relationship with China, ever since 2009 and 2010 when Chinese-based hackers carried out cyber attacks on the Gmail accounts of local dissidents, an accusation that China has always denied.

That cyber attack triggered a huge political row between America and China in 2010 and 2011, and resulted in Google effectively retreating from the Chinese market after it refused to abide by that country’s strict censorship rules.

In 2017, Google had opened an artificial intelligence (AI) research centre in China – despite the fact its search engine and other Google services were blocked in the country.

That project was disbanded two years later and the firm does not currently conduct AI research in China.

Google revenue from China are currently about 1 percent of its global sales, as it still works with Chinese partners such as advertisers, Reuters noted.

Other measures

Reuters reported that China’s Commerce Ministry has also announced separately that it had put PVH Corp, the holding company for brands including Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, and US biotechnology firm Illumina on its “unreliable entity” list.

It said the two companies took what it called “discriminatory measures against Chinese enterprises” and “damaged” the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies.

China also announced 10 percent tariffs on imports of US farm equipment that could impact US firms such as Caterpillar, Deere & Co and AGCO, as well as a small number of trucks and big-engine cars shipped to China from the United States.

Reuters noted that this could apply to Elon Musk’s Cybertruck, which Tesla has been promoting in China, as it awaits regulatory clearance to begin sales.

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information technology designated the Cybertruck as a “passenger car” in a posting in December that was quickly deleted, Reuters noted.

If the Cybertruck was designated as an electric truck, Tesla would face a 10 percent tariff on any future imports from its factory in Texas.

The new Chinese tariffs on US products will start on 10 February, the Chinese Commerce ministry reportedly said.