We start this month with the April Fool’s Day, knowing no reason why the First Day of April sounds like the Fool’s Day of April in pronunciation similarity. Pranks are spreading into friends’ circle to have more crack-up effect in a fun-show celebration, but the news from Chinese government official website that popped up on the first day of this month is no prank at all, reading that China started to retaliate with tariffs on some products coming into this world -second largest economy in challenging U.S. previous move that slapped a 25-percent customs duty on steel import and 10-percent duty on aluminum import. The Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council has decided to impose a tariff of 15 percent on 120 items of products imported from the United States including fruits and related products and a tariff of 25 percent on eight items of imports including pork and related products from the country, according to the Ministry of Finance here in China.

The first two world economic giants got trade strife that resulted from the early decision by the Trump Administration to impose tariffs on the imported steel and aluminum, targeting China as a primary and prior move with U.S. trade partners enjoying exemption from this policy on a prejudice basis through a series of contemplated negotiations that excluded China. In return for U.S. offer, China handed over a menu not very impressive both in breadth and length just to see what will happen if the situation intensifies. We textile players keep close eyes on the items in the list presented for tariff imposition on both sides, predicting any sign of impact on the textile industry that seems to be doing pretty well in the first quarter of the new year according to a survey report concluded by China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC) that organizes Spring Tour to factories in March, a routine practice to get on-site information conducted as an annual program.

In spite of the argument over the trade deficit data which can never be precisely the same figure as a result of different statistical systems in both countries, I am fully aware of the impressive gap in textile trade between the United States and China, which might constitute an equally impressive contribution to the overall trade deficit between the two countries for over 37.78 billion dollars in favor of China in textile trade surplus according the U.S. Department of Commerce that registered 38.741 billion dollars worth of textiles and apparel imports from China while its export to the country was merely $0.96 billion in a striking contrast. Right now, the exact list of items that deem to be put into tariff basket by the Trump Administration is not yet available, we know that 301 investigation exerts more in fluence than the on-going 232 rule that caps steel and aluminum in a product-specificdecision.So, what will come out of this intellectual property protection rule is uncertain as regards 301 investigation. But, with our innovation growth model as a new driver, we can stand up to any challenges and even trade rule abuses under any circumstance.