China escalates trade war: Tariffs rise and tensions soar
China is escalating the trade war. After the USA imposed tariffs on Chinese goods amounting to a total of 145%, Beijing announced that tariffs on American goods would rise to 125%. The day before, Chinese authorities declared that they "cannot back down or tolerate US bullying."
On Friday, 11 April, China struck another blow to the export of American goods by increasing tariffs on products imported from the USA to 125%. They argued that the increases in American tariffs lack any economic rationale and will ultimately be remembered as a farcical episode in the history of the global economy.
"If the US continues to play the tariff numbers game, China will ignore it," announced the ministry in Beijing. However, Chinese authorities warned in a Friday statement that if the U.S. persists in seriously infringing upon China’s interests, China will firmly oppose it and "fight till the end".
In February, the United States imposed 20% tariffs on Chinese goods, followed by an additional 34%. In retaliation, China imposed a total of 54% tariffs on most American goods, which greatly displeased the US president. Donald Trump decided to raise the stakes by another 50%, resulting in total tariffs of 104% on almost all products imported from China. Beijing responded again by raising tariffs on American goods to 84%.
On Wednesday, 9 April, Donald Trump surprised everyone once again. He paused new tariffs on almost all countries in the world for three months but increased tariffs on China up to 125%. On Thursday, the White House had to explain the tariffs now being imposed on China by the Americans. It turned out that they had increased to 145% in total.
The Trump administration explained that the tariffs on China include both the 125% rate, concerning so-called reciprocal tariffs, and a 20% rate imposed by the USA earlier this year in response to alleged fentanyl smuggling.
China declares it will fight to the end in the trade war
Experts anticipated that Beijing would not be intimidated by Donald Trump. They made this clear.
On Thursday, Chinese authorities declared they would never accept pressure and "bullying" from the USA. They announced they would "fight till the end" in response to further decisions from Washington.
He Yongqian, spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce in Beijing, stated on Thursday that China is open to negotiating tariffs with the United States, but any talks must be based on mutual respect and equality.
"China is also going all out and, for now, is not considering the consequences. We have a total trade war. China is targeting Americans where it hurts," commented Lukasz Kobierski from the New Europe Institute on the latest tariffs developments.
