By Owen Evans
Contributing Writer
Beijing announced on Friday it will increase tariffs on U.S. imports from 84% to 125%, in retaliation against the U.S. decision to hike duties on Chinese goods to a total of 145%.
The new tariff rate will come into force on Saturday, China’s Ministry of Finance announced.
The White House confirmed on Thursday that U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods have risen to 145%, factoring in the earlier 20% tariffs imposed in connection with fentanyl trafficking.
A White House official said that the new tariff rate on Chinese products now totals 145%, not 125% as the president stated on Wednesday. The executive order signed by President Donald Trump states that the reciprocal tariff rate increased overnight from 84% to 125%, which excludes the 20% fentanyl tariff.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had criticized China for increasing its tariffs on American goods to 84%, saying it would ultimately hurt China more.
“I think it’s unfortunate that the Chinese actually don’t want to come and negotiate, because they are the worst offenders in the international trading system,” Bessent said in an interview with Fox Business Network on Wednesday.
He said that the “proportionality for the Chinese is going to be much worse.”
“They have the most imbalanced economy in the history of the modern world, and I can tell you that this escalation is a loser for them,” he said.
He noted that China’s exports to the United States are five times greater than U.S. exports to China.
He said a good step for the Chinese would be “acknowledging that the precursor chemicals for fentanyl come from China.”
When asked if he was prepared to remove Chinese stocks from U.S. exchanges, Bessent said that “everything is on the table.”
“The U.S. is trying to rebalance toward more manufacturing. China needs to rebalance towards more consumption,” he said.
In a Wednesday social media post, Trump accused China of “ripping off’ the United States and other countries as part of his reasoning for imposing massive tariff hikes on the Chinese communist regime.
“At some point, hopefully in the near future, China will realize that the days of ripping off the U.S.A., and other countries, is no longer sustainable or acceptable,” he said.
The European Union said on Thursday that it will pause its countermeasures against U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs for 90 days. The countermeasures, agreed by EU member states on Wednesday, were due to start on April 15.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc remains committed to “constructive negotiations with the United States.”
“If negotiations are not satisfactory, our countermeasures will kick in,” von der Leyen said in a Thursday social media statement. “Preparatory work on further countermeasures continues. As I have said before, all options remain on the table.”
Before Trump’s 90-day pause, the United States had imposed a 20% tariff on all EU goods. Following Trump’s announcement on Wednesday, the 27-nation bloc will now be subject to a 10% baseline tariff on most goods, except steel and aluminum products, which are still subject to higher tariffs of 25%.
Earlier in the week, von der Leyen had a phone call with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, which she said was in response to “widespread disruption caused by the U.S. tariffs.”
In a published readout of the Tuesday call, she said it was the “responsibility of Europe and China, as two of world’s largest markets, to support a strong reformed trading system, free, fair and founded on a level playing field.”
Von der Leyen and Qiang discussed setting up a “mechanism for tracking possible trade diversion and ensuring any developments are duly addressed,” according to the readout.
She said that they had “a constructive discussion during which they took stock of bilateral and global issues.”
She added that there was an “urgency for structural solutions to rebalance the bilateral trade relationship and ensure better access for European businesses, products and services to the Chinese market.”
