5 ways China can retaliate to US protectionist tariff on solar panels: newspaper

BEIJING - The latest US tariff on solar panels could lead to countermeasures from China to offset the protectionist move, a Chinese daily said.

Global Times published a commentary Wednesday that said the 30-percent tariff, stemming from US President Donald Trump's "America First" policy, breaches World Trade Organization rules.

The article asked if the move was "indeed a trade war with China or just early steps headed in that direction," and said China's Ministry of Commerce should resort to regular countermoves.

It listed five measures it said China should not hesitate to take "the next time they levy tariffs against China." These are: raising health and safety standards for US beef exports to China, limiting the volume of US exports of electric and mechanical parts and other accessories, regulating Airbus or Boeing purchases, regulating the number of Chinese students studying in the US, and selling some US treasury bonds.

Trump on Monday approved high tariffs on imported solar panels and washing machines, saying it was done to protect US jobs and US manufacturers. But the move has triggered concerns over trade frictions.

Tariffs of up to 30 percent will be imposed on solar cells and modules for the next four years, making China, the world's largest solar panel producer, suffer most.

However, Trump's move could backfire, resulting in massive job losses. The US Solar Energy Industries Association has predicted that the tariffs could cut solar installations this year by nearly 20 percent and lead to the loss of 23,000 jobs in the United States.