This week China imposed tariffs on imports of various U.S. agricultural products in retaliation for Trump Administration tariffs on Chinese imports. Today the Administration announced that it would consider an additional $100 billion in tariffs on Chinese goods in response.
The impact of the Chinese tariffs on U.S. exports of pork meat, cherries, almonds, and ginseng, among other items, was detailed in a new brief from the Congressional Research Service. See China’s Retaliatory Tariffs on Selected U.S. Agricultural Products, CRS Insight, April 4, 2018.
Other new and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service this week include the following.
U.S. Trade Deficit and the Impact of Changing Oil Prices, updated April 4, 2018
Immigration Consequences of Criminal Activity, April 5, 2018
Federal Research and Development (R&D) Funding: FY2019, April 4, 2018
Title I of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA): A Summary of the Statute, April 4, 2018
Data, Social Media, and Users: Can We All Get Along?, CRS Insight, April 4, 2018
Abortion and Family Planning-Related Provisions in U.S. Foreign Assistance Law and Policy, updated April 5, 2018
Nuclear Cooperation with Other Countries: A Primer, updated April 3, 2018
What Happens When Five Supreme Court Justices Can’t Agree?, CRS Legal Sidebar, April 5, 2018
Satellite imagery of RAF Lakenheath reveals new construction of a security perimeter around ten protective aircraft shelters in the designated nuclear area, the latest measure in a series of upgrades as the base prepares for the ability to store U.S. nuclear weapons.
It will take consistent leadership and action to navigate the complex dangers in the region and to avoid what many analysts considered to be an increasingly possible outcome, a nuclear conflict in East Asia.
Getting into a shutdown is the easy part, getting out is much harder. Both sides will be looking to pin responsibility on each other, and the court of public opinion will have a major role to play as to who has the most leverage for getting us out.
How the United States responds to China’s nuclear buildup will shape the global nuclear balance for the rest of the century.