Trump's latest tariffs kick in, deepening global trade war
US President Donald Trump has decided to increase tariffs on China to a total of 104% in response to Beijing's retaliation for his tariff increases, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said. For its part, the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) of the People's Republic of China indicated that additional tariffs would trigger more countermeasures against US products and accused the Trump administration of extortion, stressing that "if the United States insists on taking this path, China will fight to the bitter end."
New tariffs on Chinese imports to the United States will rise to 104% on Wednesday, the White House announced, fulfilling a threat by US President Donald Trump.
The Republican leader had said this week that if China did not withdraw its 34% reciprocal tariffs by noon today, Eastern Time (4:00 p.m. GMT), he would implement an additional 50% tariff starting at midnight Tuesday that would subject Chinese exports to the United States to tariffs of up to 104%. According to Fox Business reporter Edward Lawrence, citing White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt, these new tariff increases on China would take effect at one minute past midnight.
Before that deadline, the president had asserted Tuesday that China "desperately" wants a tariff agreement, but he said they don't know how to start negotiations and said the White House was awaiting a call from Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Blackmailing nature
Recently, Chinese authorities expressed their "firm condemnation" of what they called the "blackmailing nature" of the United States. Last Friday, China deployed a battery of countermeasures to the tariffs announced last week by Trump, which raised the levy on Chinese goods to at least 54%. These include 34% tariffs on imports from the United States, sanctions against certain U.S. companies, restrictions on the export of certain rare earths, the suspension of imports of chicken and sorghum products from certain U.S. companies, and the opening of antitrust and antidumping investigations against U.S. companies and products.
China also filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) against the United States over the "reciprocal tariffs" imposed on all its trading partners through the dispute settlement mechanism. On April 2, Trump announced global tariffs of 10%, which went into effect last Saturday, and higher rates for other regions and countries, such as China and the European Union (EU), which will begin to apply on the 9th.
China will fight to the end, says Beijing
China has declared that it will stand firm against President Donald Trump's new threats to impose additional 50% tariffs on imported goods from the Asian country.
The Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) of the People's Republic of China indicated that additional tariffs would trigger more countermeasures against US products and accused the Trump administration of extortion, stressing that "if the United States insists on taking this path, China will fight to the bitter end." He also ridiculed Donald Trump's claim that his tariffs are "reciprocal," calling them "baseless" and "typical unilateral bullying."