China Hits Back With 125% Tariffs On US Imports

There is no winner in a tariff war, and going against the world will only result in self-isolation - Xi Jinping, President, China

On the other hand, the EU fears its single market will be flooded with cut-price Chinese imports looking for a home, and has vowed to take measures to stop this from happening

Beijing: China on Friday raised its additional tariffs on imports from the US to 125 per cent in retaliation to the Trump administration’s 145 per cent levies on Chinese exports. The Chinese Commerce Ministry here said China raised additional tariffs to 125 per cent on imported US products, raising the levies from the previous 84 per cent. China also filed a lawsuit with the WTO following the US tariff hikes, the commerce ministry said. According to the latest US notification, the overall trade tariffs on China amounted to 145 per cent.

As US President Donald Trump targeted China with heavy tariffs while pausing levies on other countries, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday appealed to the European Union (EU) to “jointly resist the unilateral bullying” by Washington. “There is no winner in a tariff war, and going against the world will only result in self-isolation”, Xi said in his first comments since Trump began imposing tariffs on China and a host of other countries sending shockwaves around the world.

In his meeting with Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez of Spain which is part of the 27-member block, Xi called on China and the EU to fulfil their international responsibilities, work together to safeguard economic globalisation and the international trading environment, and jointly resist unilateral bullying, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. “China and the EU are firm supporters of economic globalisation and free trade,” Xi said.

This not only safeguards the legitimate rights and interests of China and the EU, but also serves to maintain fairness and justice within the international community, while upholding international rules and order, Xi said. Trump, angered by China’s retaliation of his initial 34 per cent tariffs against Chinese goods, escalated levies to an unprecedented 145 per cent while pausing tariffs on other countries, including the EU, for 90 days, leaving Beijing isolated.

On Friday, China increased its tariffs against the US goods from 84 per cent to 125 per cent in a tit for tat move, leading to a trade war between the world’s top two economies. Earlier, the EU announced a 90-day pause on countermeasures against the US after Trump unveiled a similar pause on his “reciprocal” tariffs. “We want to give negotiations a chance,” CNN quoted European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as saying on Thursday.

Trump’s pause on the EU and other countries, including India, caught Beijing unawares as it was hoping to mobilise global opposition to Trump’s tariffs.