The trade war between China and the United States is flaring up again. Just hours after Washington’s new 104% tariffs on Chinese goods took effect, Beijing responded with a strong set of countermeasures across multiple sectors. In a tit-for-tat move echoing recent weeks, the Chinese government raised tariffs on U.S. goods from 34% to 84%, matching the 50% hike recently announced by President Donald Trump. China’s Ministry of Commerce made the announcement Wednesday at around 7 p.m. local time. The new tariffs will take effect on Thursday.
“The U.S. decision to increase tariffs on China is a serious mistake that infringes upon China’s legitimate rights and severely undermines the rules-based multilateral trading system,” the official statement said. In addition to tariffs, China imposed export restrictions on 12 U.S. companies, citing risks of dual-use (civil and military) technologies, and added six more American firms to its “unreliable entities list”—a designation that can lead to bans on trade and investment in China. Beijing also filed a new complaint with the World Trade Organization’s dispute settlement mechanism.
So far, the high-level talks many hoped would defuse the mounting tension between the world’s two largest economies have yet to materialize. “If the United States insists on escalating its trade restrictions, China is fully prepared to respond firmly and fight to the end,” a Commerce Ministry spokesperson warned in comments quoted by Chinese state media.
Throughout the day, Beijing echoed its recent stance: advocating for global trade, denouncing U.S. actions, and defending its retaliatory measures. “China does not want a trade war, but the Chinese government will not sit idly by while the legitimate rights of its people are violated,” the spokesperson reiterated. His remarks coincided with the release of a new white paper titled China’s Position on Several Issues in China-U.S. Economic and Trade Relations, published by the State Council, aiming to “clarify the facts” of the dispute.
The exchange of blows followed a familiar pattern. Last Friday, China responded to Washington’s 34% tariff hike with an identical 34% on U.S. imports and new export restrictions on rare earth minerals. Trump, meanwhile, claimed China was “panicking” and doubled down with an additional 50% increase on Chinese goods. Combined with the previous 20% hike, U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports now total 104%—far exceeding those applied to other countries.
Speculation had been swirling in Beijing about how China would respond. Several media outlets cited influential Chinese bloggers claiming, based on anonymous sources, that more countermeasures were being finalized. According to the South China Morning Post, potential targets could include U.S. service industries with trade surpluses in China, Hollywood films, and bilateral cooperation on fentanyl trafficking—the synthetic opioid that initially sparked Trump’s trade offensive.
Meanwhile, a long-anticipated conversation between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping has yet to take place. On Tuesday, Trump said China was “desperate for a deal” and that he was “waiting for their call.” No official contact has been confirmed, and Xi avoided discussing the trade war during his first public appearance since the tariffs took effect.
That appearance came during the Central Conference on Work Relating to Foreign Affairs with Neighboring Countries, held this week in Beijing. Surrounded by top Communist Party officials, Xi called for strengthening ties with China’s neighbors, promoting industrial and supply chain integration, and building a “community with a shared future.” He emphasized that these relationships are at their “best moment in modern history.”
The trade dispute is expected to come up on Friday, however, when Xi meets with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who is touring Asia. Sánchez will be the first European leader to meet with Xi since the new round of tariff tensions began. Speaking from Vietnam on Wednesday, Sánchez strongly defended free trade: “No one wins in trade wars. All countries lose—and especially our workers and middle class.”
So far, China’s official responses have mostly come from ministry spokespeople. On Wednesday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian repeated Beijing’s earlier rhetoric, denouncing what he called Washington’s “hegemonic behavior” and warning that China would not tolerate it. “If the United States genuinely wants to resolve this through dialogue, it must do so on the basis of equality, respect, and reciprocity,” Lin said. “But if it continues to ignore the interests of both countries and the international community, and insists on launching a tariff and trade war, China will fight to the end.”
On Tuesday, Chinese Premier Li Qiang raised the issue during a phone call with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. He criticized what he called the U.S.’s “indiscriminate tariffs” on all its trading partners—including China and the EU—and called for stronger coordination between Beijing and Brussels to protect free and open trade. Both sides are exploring ways to cooperate amid rising global uncertainty.
Leave a Comment