BEIJING: China on Wednesday announced it will raise tariffs on US goods to 84 percent, up from 34 percent, in a swift retaliatory move after Washington hiked import duties on a wide range of Chinese products.
The announcement came just hours after US President Donald Trump’s latest round of tariffs came into force, which includes a 104 percent levy on select Chinese imports.
In response, China’s Ministry of Finance issued a statement declaring that the new tariff rate will take effect from 12:01 pm (local time) on Thursday.
“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 warned that Washington’s actions are damaging to the multilateral, rules-based trade system.
In a policy paper released on Wednesday, China’s Ministry of Commerce said that Beijing has the “firm will and abundant means to take necessary countermeasures and fight to the end”.
“History and facts have proven that the United States’ increase in tariffs will not solve its own problems,” the document said.
“Instead, it will trigger sharp fluctuations in financial markets, push up US inflation pressure, weaken the US industrial base, and increase the risk of a US economic recession, which will ultimately only backfire on itself.”
The ministry further argued that the widely held belief of an unbalanced trade relationship is misplaced.
It noted that when accounting for services and income generated by American firms operating in China, the economic relationship between the two countries is “roughly balanced”.
As part of its response, China will also impose an additional 50 percent levy on all US goods, effectively bringing total duties to 84 percent.
Moreover, six US artificial intelligence firms, including Shield AI Inc. and Sierra Nevada Corporation, have been blacklisted for either selling arms to Taiwan or collaborating on military technology with the island.
An additional 12 US companies have been added to China’s export control list.
