China Imposes Additional 84% Taxes On US Goods In Retaliation To Trump's 104% Tariffs Demand

China on Wednesday announced that they will impose 84 per cent tariff on goods made in United States from April 10 right after President Donald Trump announced a 104 per cent tariff on Chinese imports. China’s foreign ministry called US's tariff row “arrogant and bullying behaviour” and its Ministry of Commerce has vowed to "fight to the end".

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian accused Washington of imposing duties "indiscriminately" and said, "If the U.S. truly wants to resolve issues through dialogue and negotiation, it should adopt an attitude of equality, respect and mutual benefit."

China had earlier announced a 34 per cent tariff on all goods imported from the US, export controls on rare earths minerals, and a slew of other measures in response to Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs that had a blanket 10 per cent tariff on all 60 countries including China who dealt with US. Trump on Tuesday threatened China to roll back or "withdraw" the retaliatory 34 per cent tariff it imposed on US goods in 24 hours or face 104 percent retaliatory tariffs.

So far, China has not appeared interested in bargaining.

What Did China's Ministry of Commerce Say?

The Ministry of Commerce wrote in a statement introducing its white paper on trade with the US, it said, "If the U.S. insists on further escalating its economic and trade restrictions, China has the firm will and abundant means to take necessary countermeasures and fight to the end."

"History and facts have proven that the United States' increase in tariffs will not solve its own problems," said the statement from the Chinese commerce ministry.

"Instead, it will trigger sharp fluctuations in financial markets, push up U.S. inflation pressure, weaken the U.S. industrial base and increase the risk of a U.S. economic recession, which will ultimately only backfire on itself.

The government has not confirmed if it would negotiate with the White House, as many other countries have started doing.

"If the U.S. truly wants to resolve issues through dialogue and negotiation, it should adopt an attitude of equality, respect and mutual benefit," said Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lin Jian Wednesday.

The paper says that the U.S. has not honored the promises it made in the phase 1 trade deal concluded during Trump's first term. As an example, it said that a U.S. law that would ban TikTok unless it is sold by its Chinese parent company violates a promise that neither would "pressure the other party to transfer technology to its own individuals."

Trump signed an order to keep TikTok running for another 75 days last week after a potential deal to sell the app to American owners was put on ice. ByteDance representatives called the White House to indicate that China would no longer approve the deal until there could be negotiations about trade and tariffs, reported AP.

The paper also argued that taking into account trade in services and U.S. companies' domestic Chinese branches, economic exchange between the two countries is "roughly in balance."

According to Associated PRess, it says that China had a trade in services deficit with the U.S. of $26.57 billion in 2023, which is composed of industries like insurance, banking and accounting.

Trump's tariffs were designed to close trade deficits with foreign countries, but those were calculated only based on trades in physical, tangible goods.