China said on Friday that it will impose 34% reciprocal tariffs on imports of US goods in retaliation for duties of the same amount unveiled by President Donald Trump as part of his aggressive trade agenda.
The ministry of commerce said the tariff would be imposed on all imported goods originating from the US from April 10.
Recall that Trump had on Wednesday unveiled an additional 34% tariff on all Chinese goods imported into the US.
The move, according to analysts, is poised to cause a major reset of relations and worsen trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
Beijing denounced the new US duties as “a typical unilateral bullying move” that “does not comply with the rules of international trade and seriously damages the legitimate rights and interest of China”.
“This practice of the US is not in line with international trade rules, seriously undermines China’s legitimate rights and interests, and is a typical unilateral bullying practice,” China’s State Council Tariff Commission said in a statement announcing its retaliatory tariffs.
China’s retaliation against the latest round of US tariffs is more sweeping than its earlier reciprocal actions.
Beijing had responded to previous levies swiftly but moderately, imposing retaliatory tariffs on targeted US imports, including agricultural products and fuel, while taking action against certain American firms and ramping up export controls.
“This is a significant escalation of China’s response,” Leah Fahy, a China economist at Capital Economics wrote in a research note. “Xi Jinping appears to feel that China’s economy is strong enough to withstand whatever Trump throws at it next.”
As part of the retaliatory measures announced Friday, when hundreds of millions of people in China celebrated a major public holiday called the Tomb Sweeping Festival, the country also added 11 American companies to its “unreliable entity list,” including drone manufacturers, and put export controls on 16 American companies to prohibit the export of Chinese dual-use items.
The commerce ministry announced anti-dumping investigations into imported medical CT X-ray tubes originating from the US and India.
In addition, Beijing also unveiled export controls on seven types of rare-earth minerals to the US, including samarium, gadolinium and terbium
*With agency reports
