On Apr. 3, the Trump administration released a list of about 1,300 proposed Chinese exports that the U.S. may tax. This decision happened as a response to China’s illegal theft of the U.S.’ intellectual property, which has caused the economy to lose between $180 billion to $540 billion and over 1000 jobs per year. The Trump administration plans to apply the new tariffs to about $50 billion worth of Chinese goods, at a rate of 25% each.

Most of the targeted goods fall under the category of aerospace, manufacturing, or medicine. Aerospace goods include airplane parts, helicopters, boats, and flight simulators. The U.S. plans to apply tariffs to manufacturing products like hand-blown torches, snow plows, television parts, can-sealing machines, and industrial dryers. The medical goods that the U.S. will tax include prosthetics, artificial teeth, hearing aids, dental fillings, vaccines, malaria test kits, x-ray machine parts, and hearing aids.

This new trade policy targets China after a seven-month long investigation by the United States Trade Representative. The agency discovered that Chinese companies previously acquired U.S. technology illegally, stole trade secrets, and forced technology transfers. These actions all allowed Chinese companies to gain an advantage and create limitations on trade. By implementing tariffs on China’s goods, American businesses will regain equal footing on trade as Chinese companies, which is the goal of the Trump administration. However, some businesses oppose the tariffs. According to executive vice president of the US Chamber of Commerce, Myron Brilliant, “The administration is rightly focused on restoring equity and fairness in [the U.S.’] trade relationship with China. However, imposing taxes on products used daily by American consumers and job creators is not the way to achieve those ends.”

Many American farmers are also worried about the tariffs and the effects on their products. China is a major consumer of American crops, and the Chinese government may possibly increase taxes on U.S. goods to reciprocate the new U.S. tariff policy. According to the Chinese embassy, China plans to carry out “corresponding measures of equal scale and strength against U.S. products.” China’s foreign ministry’s claim worries many, as it indicates the start of a trade war against the U.S.

Currently, the Trump administration has already set tariffs on foreign products, such as a 25% tariff on steel and 10% tariff on aluminum. In response, China taxed American exports, which range from meat to wines to fruits. With these actions, the U.S.’ trade war with China seems inevitable and concerns many.