China fires back at Trump’s tariff increases with 125% levies on U.S. goods

American and Chinese containers hitting each other
(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Beijing again raised its tariffs on American products on Friday, bumping it from 84% to 125%.

China made this move after President Trump paused most global tariffs for 90 days, except on Chinese goods, which he bumped to 125%. CNBC reports that this is on top of the 20% import taxes announced in February, bringing the total levies to 145%.

“The imposition of abnormally high tariffs on China by the U.S. is a serious violation of international economic and trade rules, as well as basic economic laws and common sense, and is completely unilateral bullying and coercion,” the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council [machine translated] said in its declaration.

It also added, “In view of the fact that under the current tariff level, there is no possibility of market acceptance of U.S. goods exported to China, if the U.S. side continues to impose tariffs on Chinese goods exported to the United States in the future, the Chinese side will ignore it.”

Then, a few hours after Trump’s tariffs started to apply to almost all imports, the White House announced that it would pause reciprocal tariffs on 75 nations that haven’t hit back with their own taxes. However, he said he would put a 125% tax on China because it applied retaliatory tariffs on American goods instead of going to the negotiating table.

This trade war will heavily impact the electronics and computer sector in the U.S., especially as it imports heavily from China. In 2024, it’s estimated that 86% of game consoles, 79% of PC monitors, 73% of smartphones, 70% of lithium-ion batteries, and 66% of batteries came from the East Asian country. Storage manufacturers are also heavily affected, but it’s unclear how GPUs will be impacted.

As for ‘Made in China’ goods, we would likely stop seeing these come to our shores until Beijing and Washington negotiate and hammer out a deal. But with the way things are going, we can only wait and see who will blink first.

Jowi Morales
Contributing Writer

Jowi Morales is a tech enthusiast with years of experience working in the industry. He’s been writing with several tech publications since 2021, where he’s been interested in tech hardware and consumer electronics.

  • blitzkrieg316
    But they import 1/5 compared to the US... this is not a threat but rather panic to look strong while they figure out how to undo decades of currency manipulation and avoid a massive crash...
    Reply
  • TechieTwo
    125% tariff on ZERO imports from the U.S. is still ZERO revenue for China. If the U.S. had zero Chinese imports the world would likely be a much better place.
    Reply
  • jp7189
    Suppose I ordered something from alibaba and I'm still waiting for the boat to come over. I assume when it lands at US customs I'll be asked to pay the 125% import tax. If I decline, what happens to the item? Is it destroyed or sent back?

    At what point does everything get clogged up to the point where the boats can no longer unload? Do they just hang out in the harbor or turn around and go back?
    Reply
  • ingtar33
    125% tariffs from china means next to nothing. they don't really import anything from us anyway.
    Reply
  • baboma
    >If I decline, what happens to the item? Is it destroyed or sent back?

    Item would be destroyed.

    More info here: https://avalara.com/blog/en/north-america/2025/02/how-to-handle-us-china-tariffs-de-minimis.html
    Here's the relevant portion, in layman's terms:

    Starting May 2, 2025, all packages under $800 from China/Hong Kong will no longer enter the U.S. duty-free. Instead, you’ll pay one of these fees:

    . Option A: 120% of the item’s value (e.g., a $50 item = $60 duty)
    . Option B: Flat fee per package
    - $100 (May 2–May 31)
    - $200 (starting June 1)

    More succinctly, the days of buying from Alibaba/Shein/Temu are over.
    Reply
  • spongiemaster
    TechieTwo said:
    125% tariff on ZERO imports from the U.S. is still ZERO revenue for China. If the U.S. had zero Chinese imports the world would likely be a much better place.
    China is the third largest importer by country of US goods behind Canada and Mexico. Conversely, China imports more from the US than any other country. Way to tell everyone you don't know what you are talking about.
    Reply
  • Amdlova
    I think the china will crash in two months... And the US will continue the same...
    Reply
  • And, it's time to close this dumpster fire before we have to start applying sanctions.

    Thank you to those that actually followed the rules and kept the politics and such out of the conversation.
    Reply