From 84 % To 125 %: China's Tit-For-Tat Increasing Tariffs On US Goods

Beijing, China: Days after US President, Donald Trump, announced a sudden increase in tariffs on Chinese imports to 125%, China on Friday retorted by raising additional tariffs on US goods from 84 % to 125 %,  a tit-for-tat move amid the escalating trade war between the two countries.

While announcing the decision, the East Asian country’s finance ministry stated that the US imposition of abnormally high tariffs on China “seriously” violate international and economic trade rules, adding that the US also disregarded basic economic laws and common sense.

Read Also: Trump Slaps 125% Tariff On China, Temporarily Eases Trade Pressure On Others

“It is completely unilateral bullying and coercion,” news agency Reuters quoted the ministry as saying.

The ministry further warned that if the US continuing to infringe upon China’s interests in a substantive way, the country will resort countermeasures and fight.  “If the US continues to impose additional tariffs on Chinese goods exported to the US, China will ignore it,” the finance ministry added.

Read Also: Why Trump Delays Tariffs For All Countries Except China?

The decision of the US president to raise tariffs significantly on imports from different countries, including from Europe, had raised eye brows and invited countermeasures. In response to the steel and aluminum tariffs announced by Trump earlier this week, the European Union (EU) voted almost unanimously to impose 25% tariffs on €21bn worth of US agricultural and industrial products.

Notably, after the US took a U-turn, declaring a pause on the tariff hikes on countries except China, the EU suspended its retaliatory 25% tariffs on US goods. Meanwhile, despite the US’s dramatic climbdown on other countries, it increased tariffs on Chinese imports, citing China’s alleged disregard for global trade norms. The China had earlier called on India and many European countries to resist “unilateral bullying” by the US.

The decision to impose a 125% tariff on Chinese goods was viewed as a sharp escalation in the ongoing trade war between the world’s two largest economies.