US President Donald Trump (L);Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) (image:x.com/LegitTargets)

Beijing, China: Following White House’s latest statement that China now faces up to 245% tariffs as a result of its retaliatory actions, China’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday (April 17, 2025) that the country will pay no attention if the US continues to play the “tariff numbers game”.

As per the fact sheet released on Tuesday (April 15, 2025), the White House explained that China’s total duties include the latest reciprocal tariff of 125%, a 20% tariff to address the fentanyl crisis, and tariffs of between 7.5% and 100% on specific goods to address unfair trade practices.

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Two weeks ago, US President Donald Trump announced new tariff regime on all countries, later withdrawing higher “reciprocal tariffs” for several countries while maintaining heavy duties on China.

Beijing increased its own tariffs on US goods and has not followed negotiations, stressing that discussions can only occur based on mutual respect and equality. Meanwhile, several other countries are looking at bilateral deals with Washington.

Last week, China lodged a new complaint with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) communicating “grave concern” over U.S. tariffs, accusing Washington of violating the global trade body’s rules.

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This week, China unexpectedly appointed a new trade negotiator who could initiate active role to resolve the advancing tariff war, replacing trade tsar Wang Shouwen with Li Chenggang, its envoy to the WTO.

Washington said US President was open to create a trade deal with China but Beijing should make the first move, underlining that China needed “our money”.

(With input from agencies)