China introduced a variety of measures on Tuesday concentrating on US companies together with Google, farm gear makers and the proprietor of trend model Calvin Klein, minutes after new US tariffs on Chinese language items took impact.
Beijing additionally slapped tariffs on US merchandise equivalent to coal, oil and a few autos in a fast response to the brand new duties on Chinese language items imposed by US President Donald Trump, escalating commerce tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
China’s State Administration for Market Regulation stated Google was suspected of violating the nation’s anti-monopoly legislation and an investigation was initiated in accordance with the legislation. It did present additional particulars on the investigation or on what it alleged Google had finished to breach the legislation.
Google merchandise equivalent to its search engine are blocked in China and its income from there’s about one p.c of world gross sales. It nonetheless works with Chinese language companions equivalent to advertisers.
In 2017, Google introduced the launch of a small Synthetic Intelligence (AI) centre in China. However the challenge was disbanded two years later and the agency doesn’t conduct AI analysis in China, in accordance with a weblog posting.
Individually, China’s Commerce Ministry stated it had put PVH Corp, the holding firm for manufacturers together with Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, and US biotechnology agency Illumina on its “unreliable entity” checklist.
It stated the 2 firms took what it referred to as “discriminatory measures in opposition to Chinese language enterprises” and “broken” the official rights and pursuits of Chinese language firms.
Firms added to the blacklist could be topic to fines and a broad vary of different sanctions, together with a freeze on commerce and revocation of labor permits for international workers.
Google declined to remark. PVH and Illumina didn’t reply to requests for remark exterior common US enterprise hours.
PVH had already been beneath scrutiny from Chinese language regulators over “improper” conduct associated to the Xinjiang area.
“These strikes are warnings that China intends to hurt US pursuits if want be, however nonetheless give China the choice to again down,” Capital Economics stated in a word.
“The tariffs may very well be postponed or cancelled earlier than they arrive into impact… The probe in opposition to Google may conclude with none penalties.”
Tesla and Farm Gear Companies
China additionally introduced 10 p.c tariffs on imports of US farm gear that would influence companies equivalent to Caterpillar, Deere & Co and AGCO, in addition to a small variety of vehicles and big-engine sedans shipped to China from the USA.
That would apply to Elon Musk’s Cybertruck, a distinct segment providing Tesla has been selling in China, because it awaits regulatory clearance to start gross sales.
China’s Ministry of Trade and Data expertise designated the Cybertruck as a “passenger automotive” in a posting in December that was shortly deleted.
If the Cybertruck was designated as an electrical truck, Tesla would face a ten p.c tariff on any future imports from its manufacturing facility in Texas.
Tesla had no quick remark.
The brand new tariffs on US merchandise will begin on February 10, the ministry stated.
The bulletins made on Tuesday ramped up commerce restrictions between Beijing and Washington that had been largely restricted to the tech sector beneath the administration of former US President Joe Biden, which sought to limit China’s entry to high-end semiconductors.
China stated in December it had launched an investigation into Nvidia over a suspected violation of the nation’s anti-monopoly legislation, a probe extensively seen as a retaliatory shot in opposition to Washington’s newest curbs on the Chinese language chip sector.
Intel’s merchandise offered in China had been additionally referred to as for a safety overview late final yr by an influential Chinese language business group.
© Thomson Reuters 2025
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