An eye for an eye: The US, China shoot tariff ‘ICBMs’ against each other
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: It was as if written on the Great Wall of China. Almost.
When US President Donald Trump slapped an additional 50 percent tariff on China on Tuesday, raising the total import duty to a whopping 104 percent, it was clear Beijing will respond in kind to this latest Washington onslaught.
Responding to Trump’s super-tariff hike with retaliatory measures, China on Wednesday hit back at the US with 84 percent tariff on US goods from Thursday, a sharp increase from the previously declared 34 percent, according to the country’s finance ministry.
This move comes in response to US President Donald Trump’s decision to raise tariffs on Chinese imports to a total of 104 percent, effective Wednesday, which intensified the ongoing trade conflict between the world’s two largest economies.
This escalation follows President Trump’s ultimatum to China, demanding that it withdraw its retaliatory 34 percent tariff on American goods within 24 hours or face harsher penalties.
China’s refusal to comply prompted the US to impose an unprecedented 104 percent levy on Chinese imports, the media reported on Wednesday.
Earlier on Wednesday, Beijing responded to Washington’s demands, dismissing them as coercive. “The US threat to escalate tariffs against China is a mistake on top of a mistake, which once again exposes the US’s blackmailing nature,” China’s commerce ministry said in a statement. It also warned, “If the US insists on having its way, China will fight to the end.”
China’s Office of the Tariff Commission of the State Council said tariffs on US goods will rise to 84 percent from 34 percent, starting April 10.
The repeated escalation of the tariffs threatens to bring trade between two of the world’s most important economies to a standstill. According to the Office of the US Trade Representatives, America. exported goods worth USD 143.5 billion to China in 2024, while importing USD 438.9 billion of goods, showing a huge trade deficit.
The Trump administration announced a sweeping new tariff policy last week, and warned several countries not to retaliate. Some nations, including Japan, seemed willing to negotiate on tariffs, but China appears to be taking a more hardline stance.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent spoke to Fox Business on Wednesday after China’s announcement and said, “I can tell you that this escalation is a loser for them.”
The US had already imposed new tariffs on China before it rolled out its full trade policy in April 2025. China, along with Canada and Mexico, was hit with new levies earlier in Trump’s presidency as part of what the administration says was an effort to stop fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid drug, from entering the US from these countries.
The escalating multilateral trade war has spooked investors around the world, as global equity markets have sold off sharply in April. The S&P 500 finished Tuesday down nearly 20 percent from its peak, putting the leading US index of a bear market. South Korea’s Kospi Index dipped into a bear market of its own on Wednesday. Stocks in Shanghai and Hong Kong were also down sharply since the US tariff announcement on April 2.
