Chinese crane maker raises questions over US tariff plans: ‘not a real remedy’
Company says higher duties on Chinese cranes would just increase costs for American ports. The US ports association agrees
A leading Chinese manufacturer has taken the rare step of publicly criticising US plans to hike tariffs on made-in-China cranes, warning that the proposal would only raise costs for American ports.
Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries – China’s top producer of container gantry cranes – denied it was a threat to US national security in comments submitted to the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) on Monday, adding that levies on Chinese products would not help revive American manufacturing.
China’s ship-to-shore cranes “pose no alleged cybersecurity risk, and the proposed tariffs are not a legitimate remedy”, it said in the statement.
The company’s comments come amid growing industry backlash against the US trade office’s proposal to slap a 100 per cent tariff on Chinese-made cranes, which has also provoked criticism from a major US ports association.
USTR first proposed the levy in late April, along with new duties of 20 per cent to 100 per cent on containers and chassis made in China.