US firms seek tariff relief as US and China try to mend rift

By Paul Wiseman | iNFOTEL
May 15 2018 01:54 PM

CP308141358 — FILE - In this April 12, 2018 file photo, packets of raw soybeans are placed on a table at a U.S. soybean company\'s booth at the international soybean exhibition in Shanghai, China. With the threat of tariffs and counter-tariffs between Washington and Beijing looming, Chinese buyers are canceling orders for U.S. soybeans, a trend that could deal a blow to American farmers if it continues. At the same time, farmers in China are being encouraged to plant more soy, apparently to help make up for any shortfall from the United States. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)

WASHINGTON – Corporate America is seeking relief from President Donald Trump’s threatened tariffs on at least $50 billion in Chinese goods as U.S. and Chinese negotiators seek to prevent a trade war between the world’s two biggest economies.

Best Buy wants televisions to be spared from the tariffs. Sanden International (USA) of Wylie, Texas, warns it will have to lay off 39 of its 431 workers if 25 per cent tariffs take effect on the components it uses to make car air-conditioning compressors. SABIC, a petrochemical manufacturer, wants some building materials struck from the tariff list.

As the U.S. government began three days of hearings on the tariffs Tuesday, Chinese Vice Premier Liu He travelled to Washington to seek a resolution to the trade dispute.

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