Washington: Continuing his tariff war, US President Donald Trump is set to impose an astronimical 104 percent in levies across all Chinese imports on Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced on Tuesday.
The latest hike comes on top of Chinese tariffs that were in place prior to Trump’s second term, according to a CNN report.
China was already bracing up for 34% more tariff on Wednesday as part of Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs package. But the president imposed another 50% after Beijing didn’t back off its promise to impose 34% retaliatory tariffs on US goods by noon Tuesday, adding an additional 84% in duties.
Earlier Tuesday, China’s Commerce Ministry said it “firmly opposes” the additional 50% tariffs on Chinese imports, calling it “a mistake upon a mistake.” The ministry vowed to escalate its retaliation on US exports.
“Countries like China, who have chosen to retaliate and try to double down on their mistreatment of American workers, are making a mistake,” Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday. “President Trump has a spine of steel, and he will not break.”
“The Chinese want to make a deal, they just don’t know how to do it,” she added. She declined to share what, if any, terms Trump would consider to lower tariffs on China.
Trump initially imposed a 10% tariff on all Chinese goods in February, with no exceptions, tying it to the country’s alleged role in aiding illegal immigration and getting fentanyl into the US. Last month, he doubled those rates.
China was America’s second largest source of imports last year, shipping a total of $439 billion worth of goods to the US, while the US exported $144 billion worth of goods to China. The mutual tariffs threaten to hurt domestic industries and are poised to result in layoffs.
When Trump’s first term ended, the US charged an average tariff rate of 19.3% on Chinese goods, the CNN said, quoting the Peterson Institute for International Economic analysis. The Biden administration kept most of Trump’s tariffs in place while also adding additional ones, bringing the average rate to 20.8%.
Come Wednesday, the total average tariff on Chinese exports to the US will soar to nearly 125%.
While previous rounds of Chinese tariffs caused more American businesses to look to other foreign countries like Mexico and Vietnam to manufacture goods, China remained the top foreign source of several items.
That includes, among others, toys, communication equipment such as smartphones, computers and a wide range of other consumer electronics. All these goods are likely to cost US consumers substantially more soon.
