China’s Ministry of Commerce (Mofcom) announced on 23 March that it intends to impose safeguard duties on 128 HS codes covering seamless steel pipe, aluminium scrap and various agricultural goods from the US. This is in retaliation against the Section 232 tariffs the US has imposed on steel and aluminium, Kallanish notes.

Mofcom announced 15% duties on US seamless stainless pipe imports, covering most steel pipes with an HS code starting with 7304. Data from Global Trade Tracker shows China imported 18,767 tonnes of these products from the US last year, up by 18.5% year-on-year. In January the import volume also increased by 4.67% from 2017.

Mofcom says the duties are designed to balance the negative impact of the Trump administration's recent trade measures. In addition to the tariffs on steel and aluminium, which came into force last week, the US announced that it may place duties on another $50 billion of imports from China on Friday. Mofcom is urging the US to avoid ramping up trade conflicts by increasing communication and cooperation.