China has significantly increased tariffs on U.S. goods from 84% to an unprecedented 125% on Friday. This move comes as a countermeasure to the Trump administration’s similar actions.
What Happened: China’s Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council has declared that any additional tariffs imposed by the U.S. will be disregarded. "Given that U.S. exports to China already have no market acceptability under the current tariff rates, if the U.S. further imposes additional tariffs on Chinese goods, China will simply ignore them,"
The commission maintains that U.S. exports to China are already struggling to find market acceptability under the current tariff rates, reported the South China Morning Post.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce emphasized China’s commitment to safeguarding its legitimate rights and interests, supporting the multilateral trading system, and maintaining the stability of the international economic order.
The ministry criticized the U.S. tariff measures as “a typical act of unilateral bullying and coercion,” which violate World Trade Organization rules and undermine the rules-based multilateral trading system and international economic order.
The spokesperson also called on the U.S. to “immediately correct its wrongdoings and revoke all unilateral tariffs imposed on China.”
In his first reaction to President Donald Trump‘s tariffs on China, Xi Jinping told visiting Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, "There are no winners in the tariff war and standing against the world ultimately results in self-isolation," as per state news agency Xinhua.
No matter how the external environment shifts, China will maintain its resolve and focus, dedicating itself to managing its own affairs efficiently,” added Xi.
Why It Matters: The decision to increase tariffs comes as President Donald Trump awaits negotiation talks with his ‘friend’ Xi Jinping.
According to China expert and political commentator Gordon Chang, the Chinese President is avoiding direct negotiations with President Trump to prevent potential political backlash at home. Xi is in a difficult position where initiating a conversation with Trump about the trade war could lead to backlash from his fellow Communist Party leaders.
Notably, China is not immune to the adverse impact from Trump’s tariffs. Goldman Sachs downgraded China’s growth forecast and warned of risk to 20 million export-linked jobs in the nation. However, the investment bank cited overall global economic gloom as a reason besides Trump’s tariffs.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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