1 week Ago By Matthew Medsger
The volatility seen in U.S. stock markets continued on Tuesday after the White House claimed China had failed to back down from their threats to “fight to the end” against President Donald Trump’s tariff policies.
American buyers of Chinese-made goods will face an additional 104% import duty as of Wednesday, according to the White House, which comes following the Chinese government’s decision to levy 34% tariffs on U.S.-made goods sold in China.
The Chinese tariff came following an earlier Trump Administration “ reciprocal tariff ” declaration against U.S. imports of Chinese products.
To put that in perspective, in total when coupled with 20.8% tariffs already in place on Chinese goods, the federal government will reportedly begin charging a $124.80 tax on every $100 worth of Chinese products bought by U.
S. consumers. These tariffs are not charged to the Chinese Communist Party , Chinese corporations, or the Chinese people, but are instead levied when goods enter the U.
S. and are paid by U.S.
companies and individual Americans purchasing Chinese goods. The stacked tariffs, according to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, are necessary because the Chinese government chose “to retaliate and try to double down on their mistreatment of American workers.” “The Chinese want to make a deal, they just don’t know how to do it,” she said.
China’s Commerce Ministry , ahead of the White House’s decision to more than double last week’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcement, said the Chinese people will not bend in the face of “completely groundless” tariffs, or Trump’s “typical unilateral bullying practice.” The “so-called ‘reciprocal tariffs’” levied by Trump demand a response, according to the Ministry. “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 U.S.
threat to escalate tariffs on China is a mistake on top of a mistake and once again exposes the blackmailing nature of the U.S.,” they added.
“China will never accept this. If the U.S.
insists on its own way, China will fight to the end.” U.S.
stocks opened the day up on the hope that the Trump administration’s frequent assertions that they’ve been in contact with many of the countries whose products will soon face import tariffs. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent signaled the president was open to negotiation, and Trump said he was speaking with South Korea’s acting president to iron out a deal between the staunch U.S.
ally and his administration. The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened at 38,827.10 after closing Monday at 37,965.
60, and proceeded to climb as high as 39,426.60. The S&P 500 was up 4% at one point, and the Nasdaq shot above 16,300.
The good feelings would not last. After slowly falling through most of the day, the Dow closed down 0.8%, or 320 points, to land at 37,645.
59. According to the Wall Street Journal , that’s a 52-week low. The 4,982 close seen for the S&P 500 and the 15,267 close on the Nasdaq are the lowest they’ve been since April 19 of last year.
.
