BEIJING (AP) — China announced Friday that it will raise tariffs on U.S. goods from 84% to 125% — the latest salvo in an escalating trade war between the world’s two largest economies that has rattled markets and raised fears of a global slowdown.
While U.S. President Donald Trump paused import taxes this week for other countries, he raised tariffs on China and they now total 145%.
China has denounced the policy as “economic bullying” and promised countermeasures. The new tariffs begin Saturday. Washington’s repeated jacking up of tariffs “will become a joke in the history of the world economy,” a Chinese Finance Ministry spokesman said in a statement announcing the new tariffs.
“However, if the U.S. insists on continuing to substantially infringe on China’s interests, China will resolutely counter and fight to the end.
” Buildings are reflected on a brokerage house's window as an electronic board displays Shanghai shares trading index in the Central Business District, in Beijing, China, Wednesday, April 9, 2025. China has raised tariffs on U.S.
products in retaliation of Trump policies. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, file) AP China’s Commerce Ministry said it would file another lawsuit with the World Trade Organization against the U.S.
tariffs. Trump’s on-again, off-again measures have caused alarm in stock and bond markets and led some to warn that the U.S.
could be headed for a recession. There was some relief when Trump paused the tariffs for most countries — but concerns remain since the U.S.
and China are the world’s No. 1 and No. 2 economies, respectively.
More: Trump’s ‘buy’ tip on social media before tariffs pause benefited investors who listened The trade war between the U.S. and China “could severely damage the global economic outlook,” the head of the WTO, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said this week.
Chinese tariffs will affect goods like soybeans, aircraft and their parts and drugs — all among the country’s major imports from the U.S. Beijing, meanwhile, suspended sorghum, poultry and bonemeal imports from some American companies last week, and put more export controls on rare earth minerals, critical for various technologies.
The United States’ top imports from China, meanwhile, include electronics, like computers and cell phones, industrial equipment and toys — and consumers and businesses are likely to see prices rise on those products. Trump announced on Wednesday that China would face 125% tariffs, but he did not include a 20% tariff on China tied to its role in fentanyl production. White House officials hope the import taxes will create more manufacturing jobs by bringing production back to the United States — a politically risky trade-off that could take years to materialize, if at all.
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China hits back, raising tariffs on U.S. goods to 125%

China’s Commerce Ministry said it would file another lawsuit with the World Trade Organization against the U.S. tariffs.