China has promised to “fight to the end” if Donald Trump follows through on a threat to impose a further 50 per cent tariff on all Chinese imports.
The United States president said he would impose the extra levy, on top of a combined 54 per cent in already announced tariffs, if Beijing introduces its threatened 34 per cent retaliatory tariff on US imports.
China’s commerce ministry on Tuesday described Mr Trump’s latest threat as blackmail and said Beijing would respond with further countermeasures.
“The countermeasures China has taken are aimed at safeguarding its sovereignty, security and development interests, and maintaining the normal international trade order. They are completely legitimate,” the ministry said in a statement.
“The US threat to escalate tariffs on China is a mistake on top of a mistake and once again exposes the blackmailing nature of the US. China will never accept this. If the US insists on its own way, China will fight to the end.”
China’s response to Mr Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs, which are due to come into force on Wednesday, have been the toughest in the world. Beijing said it will match the “reciprocal” tariff of 34 per cent, which is in addition to a 20 per cent tariff Trump imposed earlier this year in protest against China’s failure to halt the export of chemicals used to make the drug fentanyl.
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China’s response, which also includes export controls on some rare earths and restrictions on the activities of some US companies, is in sharp contrast to that of other Asian countries. Most have ruled out any retaliatory action and offered concessions such as reducing or eliminating tariffs on US goods and agreeing to buy more American products.
China exports more to the US than to any other country and the US accounted for 14.7 per cent of its total exports last year with a value of $524.66 billion. China’s top exports to the US include steel, aluminium, plastics, machinery, clothes, toys and furniture, labour intensive industries that employ huge numbers of people.
China’s commerce ministry did not identify any countermeasures under consideration if Mr Trump introduces the extra 50 per cent tariff, which would bring the total tariff on Chinese imports above 100 per cent. Non-tariff options include introducing restrictions on imports from the US of poultry and other agricultural products, films and financial, legal and information technology services.
Beijing could also allow the yuan to depreciate against the dollar, a move that would make Chinese exports more competitive. The People’s Bank of China on Tuesday set its daily reference rate for the yuan at 7.2038 per dollar on Tuesday, the weakest since September 2023.
