BEIJING/BRUSSELS: China will impose 84 percent tariffs on US goods from Thursday, up from the 34 percent previously announced, its Finance Ministry said on Wednesday, firing the latest salvo in a global trade war sparked by US President Donald Trump.
Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs on dozens of countries took effect earlier on Wednesday, including massive 104 percent duties on Chinese goods.
The EU is also preparing its own retaliatory measures for later on Wednesday.
Trump’s punishing tariffs have shaken a global trading order that has persisted for decades, raised fears of recession and wiped trillions of dollars off the market value of major firms.
Trump nearly doubled duties on Chinese imports, which had been set at 54 percent last week, in response to previous counter-tariffs from Beijing.
Earlier in the day, China called its trade surplus with the US an inevitability and warned it had the “determination and means” to continue the fight if Trump kept hitting Chinese goods.
China’s currency has faced heavy downward pressure, with the offshore yuan at record lows due to the tariffs, but sources told Reuters the central bank has asked major state-owned banks to reduce US dollar purchases and will not allow sharp yuan declines.
Meanwhile, China told the World Trade Organization that the US tariffs threatened to further destabilize global trade.
“The situation has dangerously escalated. As one of the affected members, China expresses grave concern and firm opposition to this reckless move,” China said in a statement to the WTO on Wednesday that was sent to Reuters by the Chinese mission to the WTO.
EU countries are expected to approve the bloc’s first countermeasures against Trump’s tariffs on Wednesday, joining China and Canada in pushing back.
The European Commission, which coordinates EU trade policy, has proposed extra duties, mostly of 25 percent, on a range of US imports from motorcycles, poultry, fruit, wood, and clothing to dental floss, according to a document seen by Reuters. They are to enter into force in stages.
