China unveiled retaliatory tariffs of 84% on imports of US goods on Wednesday, further inflaming a trade war between the world’s two biggest economies.
The announcement means China has increased its intended levy on US imports by another 50 percentage points from the initial amount that was set to take effect on Thursday, matching the additional charge that US President Donald Trump has already imposed on Chinese goods.
Trump’s sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs took effect earlier on Wednesday. China was the hardest-hit nation with a levy of at least 104% on all its goods. The two countries have been involved in a game of tit-for-tat on trade, with Beijing standing firmly against each new tariff introduced by Washington.
“The US escalation of tariffs on China is a mistake upon mistake, severely infringing upon China’s legitimate rights and interests, and seriously damaging the multilateral trading system based on rules,” China’s State Council Tariff Commission said in a statement announcing the fresh levy.
The amped-up retaliation comes after China repeatedly warned that it would “fight to the end” if the US moved forward with further tariffs. On Wednesday, Trump’s additional levies on Chinese imports had originally been set to increase by 34 percentage points.
But the president tacked on another 50% after Beijing refused to back down from the standoff. Prior to the latest rounds of escalation, Trump had already imposed 20% levies on China since his return to the White House.
In addition to the increased levy, China’s Commerce Ministry imposed export controls on 12 American companies, barring Chinese companies from supplying them with dual-use items that have both military and civilian applications. It also added six more US firms to its “unreliable entity list,” banning them from trading or making new investments in China.
Meanwhile, China also filed a complaint to the World Trade Organization over the latest US tariffs, according to the Commerce Ministry.
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