BEIJING: China on Wednesday (Apr 9) announced massive retaliatory tariffs on US goods, sharply escalating a trade war started by President Donald Trump and fuelling fresh panic in global markets.
Trump’s latest salvo of tariffs came into effect on dozens of trading partners earlier Wednesday, including punishing duties of 104 per cent on imports of Chinese products.
Beijing originally planned to respond with a 34 per cent tariff on imports of US products from 1601 GMT Wednesday, but the finance ministry said it would now raise the toll to 84 per cent after Trump dramatically hiked his own duties on imports from China.
“The tariff escalation against China by the United States simply piles mistakes on top of mistakes (and) severely infringes on China’s legitimate rights and interests,” the ministry said.
China also urged the US to immediately cancel all tariff measures and resolve their differences through dialogue.
Washington’s moves “severely damage the multilateral rules-based trade system”, it added.
China had on Tuesday vowed to “fight to the end”, blasting what it called “blackmailing” by the US.
Beijing’s commerce ministry said in a separate statement on Wednesday that it would blacklist six American artificial intelligence firms, including Shield AI and Sierra Nevada Corp.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was quick to address the new 84 per cent retaliatory tariffs, calling them unfortunate and a losing proposition for Beijing.
“I think it’s unfortunate that the Chinese actually don’t want to come and negotiate, because they are the worst offenders in the international trading system,” Bessent said in an interview with Fox Business Network.
Trump did not immediately react to the Chinese counterattack but he called on companies to start relocating to the United States to avoid tariffs.
“This is a GREAT time to move your COMPANY into the United States of America, like Apple, and so many others, in record numbers, are doing,” the US president said on his Truth Social platform.
He urged: “DON’T WAIT, DO IT NOW!”
Trump believes his policy will revive America’s lost manufacturing base by forcing companies to relocate to the United States.
But many business experts and economists question how quickly – if ever – this can take place and warn it could reignite inflation.
Source: Channel News Asia