Trump escalates tariff war: New 50% levy threatens China
U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on Monday to impose an additional 50% tariff on China if Beijing does not withdraw its retaliatory tariffs announced on Friday.
"Yesterday, China imposed retaliatory tariffs of 34%, in addition to already established record tariffs, non-monetary tariffs, illegal subsidizing of companies, and long-term currency manipulation, despite my warning that any country that takes retaliatory action against the U.S. will immediately face new and significantly higher tariffs, exceeding those originally established," wrote Donald Trump on his social media portal, Truth Social.
Trump threatens China
"Therefore, if China does not withdraw its 34% increase (...) by tomorrow, April 8, 2025, the United States will impose additional tariffs of 50% on China, effective from April 9th," he added. He also announced that he would immediately end trade talks with China, while "negotiations with other countries that have also requested meetings will begin immediately."
If Trump fulfills his threat, and the new 50% tariff is added to those already announced, it would mean that the base rate for almost all goods from the PRC would be 104%.
Contrary to what Trump said, China announced retaliatory tariffs of 34% (equal to those the U.S. President announced last Wednesday) on Friday, which are set to take effect on April 10. According to the White House's plan, the "reciprocal" tariffs for goods from countries with trade surpluses with the U.S. will come into effect on April 9th. Already on Saturday, a 10% tariff was implemented for almost all countries worldwide.
Trump's announcement intensified fluctuations on Wall Street. Earlier, for several minutes, all indices of the New York Stock Exchange skyrocketed after markets reacted to what turned out to be an incorrect headline about a statement by Trump advisor Kevin Hassett regarding a possible 90-day suspension of tariffs on all countries, except China. Hassett was asked about this in an interview with Fox News but only responded that Trump "will do what he does."
After the White House refuted the information about a tariff suspension, stock prices dropped significantly again. The Dow Jones index is currently showing a decline of 1.7%.
