Beijing: China on Friday retaliated against President Donald Trump’s decision to impose similar tariffs on Chinese exports as the latest escalation of the trade war between the world’s top two economies, imposing 34% tariffs on all imported U.S. products.
According to the state-owned Xinhua News Agency, starting from April 10, tariffs will be imposed on all imported US products.
China filed a lawsuit against the WTO after the United States slapped its “reciprocal tariffs” on its trading partners.
The Ministry of Commerce here said Beijing has also decided to ban the export of dual-use items to 16 U.S. entities.
Trump announced 34% tariffs on Chinese imports on Wednesday as part of a “liberation day” plan aimed at reshaping U.S. trade policy.
Tariffs have brought China’s total taxes to 54%, close to 60% of Trump’s threats in voting.
He said China charged the U.S. 67% tariff, noting that the figure includes the impact of currency manipulation and trade barriers.
The new 34% tariff on Chinese imports reflects a 10% universal baseline and a 24% unique to the country. 10% will come into effect on April 5, while higher reciprocity tariffs will come into effect on April 9.
On Thursday, China’s Commerce Department exported to the United States for its $438 billion exports, the third largest U.S. tariff after ASEAN and the European Union (EU).
In addition, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiang said that U.S. tariffs seriously violate WTO rules and undermine the rules-based multilateral trading system.
He said China firmly rejects this and will do what is necessary to defend our legitimate rights and interests.
“We have stressed more than once that there is no winner in the trade and tariff war. Trade protectionism is nowhere to be found. We urge the United States to stop doing things wrong and to address trade differences with China and other countries through consultations with equality, respect and mutual benefit,” he said.
The Commerce Department statement earlier said the United States has identified so-called “mutual tariffs” based on subjective and unilateral assessments. It said that tariffs do not comply with international trade rules, seriously undermine the legitimate rights and interests of all parties involved, and are typical of unilateral bullying.
China urges the United States to immediately cancel its unilateral tariff measures and correctly resolve differences with trading partners through equal dialogue.
Earlier, Trump once again imposed two rounds of 10% tariffs on Chinese goods in February and March. He said he would consider lowering tariffs if Beijing supports a deal and divested its brief Video App Tiktok to U.S. buyers.
China earlier retaliated against Trump’s tariffs, imposed an additional 15% tariff on U.S. goods and filed a legal lawsuit against Washington, Washington.
In addition, it added 10 U.S. companies to the list of unreliable entities in the country and took corresponding measures. These include several companies related to AI, aviation, IT and dual-use items that use both civilian and military applications.
While Chinese officials believe the new tariffs will hurt our consumers more, these tariffs are expected to reduce substantial exports to the United States, attacking domestic industries it has been involved in amid the economic slowdown.
The United States is China’s third largest export destination after ASEAN and the EU. According to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the total U.S. trade in goods with China is estimated to be $582.4 billion in 2024.
In 2024, the United States exported goods to China at US$143.5, with a total import of US$438.9 billion. In 2024, the U.S. trade deficit with China is US$295.4 billion.
