CHINA led the way today in hitting back at the so-called “reciprocal tariffs” imposed by US President Donald Trump.

He said on Wednesday that the import taxes, ranging from 10 per cent to 49 per cent, would do to US trading partners what they have long done to his country.

Mr Trump maintains they will draw factories and jobs back to the US.

“Taxpayers have been ripped off for more than 50 years,” he said. “But it is not going to happen any more.”

The policy includes tariffs as high as 49 per cent on imports from Cambodia, 46 per cent on goods from Vietnam, 34 per cent on Chinese imports, plus 24 per cent on Japanese goods and 20 per cent on imports from the European Union.

With those already imposed by Washington, China will now face total  trade tariffs of 54 per cent.

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce said today that it was opposed to the sweeping taxes slapped on all US trading partners and vowed to take resolute countermeasures to protect its own interests.

“History has shown that raising tariffs does not resolve the US’s own issues,” a ministry spokesman said, adding that such measures harm US interests instead and also pose risks to global economic growth and the stability of industrial and supply chains.

He insisted that there could be no winners in a trade war and that protectionism was a dead end. 

The spokesman said China was calling on the US to promptly lift its unilateral tariffs and address differences with trade partners through dialogue and consultation.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen also hit back, describing the taxes as a “major blow to the world economy” and warning: “The consequences will be dire for millions of people around the globe.”

She said the EU was ready to negotiate with the US but was also prepared to respond with its own countermeasures.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, whose country is Washington’s closest ally in Asia, said that Tokyo planned to closely analyse the impact of the US tariffs, adding that they would have a big impact on relations with the US.

Far-right Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni said: “We will do everything we can to work towards an agreement with the US, with the aim of avoiding a trade war that would inevitably weaken the West in favour of other global players.”

Brazil, hit with a 10 per cent tariff, said it was considering an appeal to the World Trade Organisation.