IMAGE: Lin Jian, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, answers questions from journalists. China reacts to the tariffs imposed by the USA against the People’s Republic. (Source: Johannes Neudecker/dpa)
China has pledged to respond after President Donald Trump declared significant new tariffs on its exports to the United States, marking a drastic shift in American trade policy towards what economists have referred to since 2018, as “aggressive neo-mercantilism.”
On Wednesday, Trump revealed a 34% reciprocal tariff on all Chinese imports, a move which comes on top of an earlier 20%, bringing the tariff rate to 54%, likely to alter diplomatic relations and escalate the trade conflict between the world’s two largest economies. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs held its daily press conference in Beijing after U.S. President Donald Trump announced far-reaching new tariffs on nearly all U.S. trading partners. Reports have already surfaced suggesting that China has started to restrict local companies’ investments in the United States, according to informed sources.
In a statement released Thursday, China’s Ministry of Commerce expressed strong disapproval, indicating that the country would implement decisive countermeasures to safeguard its rights and interests…
VIDEO: China’s Fierce Counter To Trump’s ‘Bullying’ Tariffs As Global Trade War Escalates (Source: CNN News 18)
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Neha Khan reports for the Siasat Daily…
China vows resolute countermeasures against US reciprocal tariffs
The tariffs brought the total levies on China to 54 percent, close to the 60 per cent Trump threatened during his poll campaign.
IMAGE: President Donald Trump holds up a signed executive order on global US tariffs (Source: AP)
Beijing: China on Thursday said it will resolutely adopt countermeasures after President Donald Trump imposed 34 per cent tariffs on over USD 438 billion Chinese imports to America, which is China’s third largest export market.
Trump announced tariffs on Chinese imports on Wednesday, unveiling them as part of a sweeping “Liberation Day” package aimed at reshaping American trade policy.
China firmly opposes the US “reciprocal tariffs” and will resolutely adopt countermeasures to safeguard its rights and interests, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce said after Trump’s announcement.
The tariffs brought the total levies on China to 54 percent, close to the 60 per cent Trump threatened during his presidential campaign. [the US President] had earlier imposed two rounds of 10 per cent tariffs on Chinese goods, first in February and then in March this year, while saying he would consider lowering tariffs on China if Beijing supported a deal for ByteDance to divest its short-video app TikTok to a US buyer.
China earlier also retaliated against Trump’s tariffs with an additional 15 per cent tariff on American goods and initiated legal action against Washington in the WTO. Additionally, China added 10 US firms to the country’s unreliable entity list and took corresponding measures against them. They include a number of companies linked to defence and security besides AI, aviation, IT and “dual-use” items that carry both civilian and military applications.
Though Chinese officials argue that the new tariffs would hurt US consumers more, the new tariffs were expected to lower substantial exports to the US, hitting its industries back home heavily, which are already reeling under the impact of the slowdown of the Chinese economy.
The US constitutes China’s third biggest export destination after ASEAN and the European Union, with the US total goods trade with China estimated at USD 582.4 billion in 2024, according to the figures from the Office of the US Trade Representative. US goods exports to China in 2024 were USD 143.5 while the US imports from China in 2024 totalled USD 438.9 billion. The US goods trade deficit with China was USD 295.4 billion in 2024.
With heavy tariffs, Trump is putting pressure on China to buy more US industrial and agricultural goods and products.
Speaking from the White House’s Rose Garden, Trump said
“We’re going to be charging a discounted reciprocal tariff of 34 per cent”.
[According to Trump], China charged tariffs of 67 per cent to the US, noting that the figure included the effects of currency manipulation and trade barriers. The new 34 per cent tariffs on Chinese imports reflect a 10 per cent universal baseline plus 24 per cent specific to the country. The 10 per cent will come into effect on April 5 while the higher reciprocal tariffs will take effect on April 9.
Trump had vowed for months to impose reciprocal tariffs to match other countries’ higher tariff rates for specific goods and offset non-tariff barriers that put US exports at a disadvantage, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.
Trump emphasised that the new levies would correct years of “unfair” trade during which other countries had been “ripping” off the US. At the White House, Trump described his actions on China as “tough love”.
“I have great respect for President Xi (Jinping) of China, great respect for China, but they were taking tremendous advantage,” he said.
Responding to the tariff announcement, Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington, said: “China’s opposition to the imposition of additional tariffs has always been consistent and clear.”
“China believes that protectionism leads nowhere, and trade and tariff wars have no winners,” the Post quoted Liu Penguy.
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