Tech stocks are down premarket after the U.S. and China detailed plans to levy tariffs on imported products. Apple is down 2.1%.
The U.S. proposed 25% tariffs on Chinese products worth about $50B, including semiconductors, lithium batteries, electronics components, and dishwashers. China responded with a “same-scale” reciprocal proposal on 106 U.S. products including aircraft, autos, and soybeans.
Officials in Washington and other countries accuse China of unfair trade practices, including a failure to protect intellectual property. An increasingly hot-button issue is Beijing’s practice of requiring foreign companies to hand over technological know-how in exchange for access to its domestic market.
Asked by CNBC about those allegations, Cui Tiankai, China’s ambassador to the U.S., claimed the United States has failed to cite specific instances of when China has forced U.S. firms to hand over technology in order to do business in China.
