China slaps retaliatory tariffs of 84% on US as trade war between Washington and Beijing heats up
9 April 2025, 13:39 | Updated: 9 April 2025, 15:41
China will impose additional tariffs on the United States from tomorrow as the trade war between Washington and Beijing continues to heat up.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
Beijing has announced an import tax of 84% on US goods, an increase of 50% from previous levies.
It comes after the United States confirmed it would slap 104% levies on Chinese imports from today.
Speaking last night, Trump remained defiant in the face of plummeting global stock markets as he declared, “I know what the hell I’m doing.”
Trump has refused to “pause” tariffs despite plummeting markets around the world, instead announcing increased tariffs of 104% on Chinese goods late on Tuesday.
Read more: China urges citizens to 'avoid war zones' after two nationals 'captured by Ukraine forces'
‘Chinese TikToker’ creates AI video showing morbidly obese Americans under Trump tariffs
European and Asian markets continued to fall throughout Wednesday as Trump’s global economic shake-up continued to cause chaos.
The US President was seen to declare "I know what the hell I'm doing!" on Tuesday night, making the comments during a defiant speech at the National Republican Congressional Committee dinner in Washington.
He proclaimed: "These countries are calling me up, kissing my ass...they are dying to make a deal... They are, they are dying to make a deal. Please, please, sir, make a deal. I'll do anything."
"I know what the hell I'm doing. I know what I'm doing, and you know what I'm doing too," he said.
"I'm the only one that would have done the tariffs, because everybody was afraid. They were afraid of being criticised."
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also confirmed that nearly 70 countries have approached the US to engage in tariff talks since Trump's historic "Liberation Day" announcement last Wednesday.
Following the White House’s announcement of 104% levies, China told the World Trade Organisation that the US' protectionist policies threatened to collapse 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.
Last week saw Trump announce a blanket tariff on China of 34 per cent, as he slapped levies on nearly all countries across the world.
The measures saw fears of a recession grow overnight, with oil prices diving almost 4%.
Those levies included 10% tariffs on the Heard and McDonald islands - a land mass with no human population and inhabited entirely by penguins and seals.
That list also includes Australia - a nation that runs a trade surplus with the United States and on paper should not face Trump's heavy levies according to the formula.
Trump has since said he "believes that China wants to make a deal with the US," said Karoline Leavitt, the US president's spokeswoman:
During the Press Conference Mrs Leavitt also said that 70 countries have reached out for deals - and they're happy to hear from more.
She also said the President would be gracious but firm if China came to the table.
The additional tariffs slapped on nations Trump deems the 'worst offenders' can be seen below:
- Vietnam: 46%
- Thailand: 36%
- Japan: 24%
- European Union: 20%
This comes as Elon Musk has branded one of Donald Trump’s top tariff advisers a “moron” as the rift between the president and his billionaire ally deepens.
The Tesla founder, who recently hit out at Trump’s decision to slap tariffs on countries across the globe, slammed Peter Navarro, the president’s senior counsellor for trade, describing him as “dumber than a sack of bricks.”
It comes after Mr Navarro accused the billionaire of running a “car assembler” rather than a manufacturer.
Musk rejected accusations of being against tariffs because he wants to use “cheap foreign parts”, describing them as “demonstrably false”, and declaring Tesla “has the most American-made cars.”
The next stage of Mr Trump's tariff programme comes into force in the early hours of Wednesday, with import taxes at 20% for goods from European Union nations and 24% from Japan.
The UK government is pushing for a deal with the White House in the hope of easing the 10% tariff on US imports of British goods, along with a 25% tariff on cars and separate import taxes for steel and aluminium.
Hitting out at Musk, Mr Navarro told CNBC: “In many cases, if you go to his Texas plant, a good part of the engines that he gets – which in the EV case are the batteries – come from Japan and come from China. The electronics come from Taiwan.
“What we want – and the difference is in our thinking and Elon’s on this – is that we want the tyres made in Akron. We want the transmissions made in Indianapolis. We want the engines made in Flint and Saginaw. And we want the cars manufactured here.”
He added: “We want them home for our national security.”
A furious Elon Musk then took to Twitter, branding Mr Navarro a “moron” and in one post simply calling him “Peter Retarrdo.”
“Tesla has the most American-made cars. Navarro is dumber than a sack of bricks,” Musk fumed.