China, in his words · First term · № 41
Ordered a trade investigation into China's "theft of American intellectual property"
“Today I'm directing the United States Trade Representative to examine China's policies, practices, and actions with regard to the forced transfers of American technology and the theft of American intellectual property.”
- Said
- , Remarks on signing a memorandum on China's trade practices, the White House
- Subject
- intellectual property theft
- Threat
- Economic threat
- Topic
- Trade & tariffs
- Era
- First term
What the record showed
The investigation led to a second memorandum on March 22, 2018, when Trump announced a Section 301 action that he said "could be about $60 billion." By February 2020, average U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods were 19.3 percent and covered 66.6 percent of imports from China, according to the Peterson Institute for International Economics. A March 2019 study by economists Mary Amiti, Stephen Redding and David Weinstein found "complete passthrough of the tariffs into domestic prices of imported goods" during 2018, with the full incidence falling on domestic consumers.
Sources
- Remarks on Signing a Memorandum on Addressing China's Laws, Policies, Practices, and Actions Related to Intellectual Property, Innovation, and Technology and an Exchange With Reporters
- Remarks on Signing a Memorandum on Actions by the United States Related to the Section 301 Investigation of China's Laws, Policies, Practices, or Actions Related to Technology Transfer, Intellectual Property, and Innovation and an Exchange With Reporters
- US-China Trade War Tariffs: An Up-to-Date Chart
- The Impact of the 2018 Trade War on U.S. Prices and Welfare