China announced on Wednesday, April 9th, massive retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods, sharply escalating the trade war with the U.S. and fuelling fresh panic in global markets.
Trump’s latest salvo of tariffs came into effect on dozens of trading partners earlier Wednesday, including punishing duties of 104% on imports of Chinese products.
Beijing originally planned to respond with a 34% tariff on imports of U.S. products, but the finance ministry said it would now raise the toll to 84% after Trump dramatically hiked his duties on imports from China.
“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.
Washington’s moves “severely damage the multilateral rules-based trade system,” it added.
Trump did not immediately react to the Chinese counterattack but he called on companies to start relocating to the United States to avoid tariffs.
“This is a GREAT time to move your COMPANY into the United States of America, like Apple, and so many others, in record numbers, are doing,” the U.S. president said on his Truth Social platform.
Trump believes his policy will revive America’s lost manufacturing base by forcing companies to relocate to the United States.
