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China hits back at Washington with 84 per cent tariffs on US goods
Trucks line up to depart from a container terminal in Nanjing in east China's Jiangsu province on April 8, 2025

CHINA again vowed to “fight to the end” today in a trade war with the United States as it announced it would raise tariffs on US goods to 84 per cent from tomorrow.

Beijing also added an array of countermeasures after US President Donald Trump raised the total tariff on imports from China to 104 per cent. 

Beijing said it was launching an additional case against the US at the World Trade Organisation and placed further restrictions on US companies’ trade with Chinese firms.

Introducing a white paper on trade with the US, the Ministry of Commerce said: “If the US insists on further escalating its economic and trade restrictions, China has the firm will and abundant means to take necessary countermeasures and fight to the end.”

The government declined to say whether it would negotiate with the White House, as many other countries are doing.

China announced a 34 per cent tariff on all goods imported from the US on Friday, alongside export controls on rare earths minerals and a slew of other measures in response to President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs. 

Mr Trump then added an additional 50 per cent tariff on goods from China, saying negotiations had been terminated.

Today’s measures from Beijing include adding 11 US companies to a so-called “unreliable entities” list that would bar Chinese companies from selling them dual-use goods. 

Among the companies are American Photonics and SYNEXXUS, both of which work with the US military.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lin Jian said: “If the US truly wants to resolve issues through dialogue and negotiation, it should adopt an attitude of equality, respect and mutual benefit.”

The paper says the US has not honoured promises it made in the Phase One trade deal concluded during President Trump’s first term. 

It said a US law that would ban TikTok unless it is sold by its Chinese parent company also violates a promise that neither would “pressure the other party to transfer technology to its own individuals.”

“History and facts have proven that the US’s increase in tariffs will not solve its own problems,” said the statement from the Chinese Commerce Ministry. 

“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.”

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