Beijing will increase import taxes on U.S. goods by 50% from the original 34%. The Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council [machine translated] said, “The U.S. escalation of tariffs on China is a mistake on top of a mistake, a serious violation of China’s legitimate rights and interests, a serious damage to the rules-based multilateral trading system, and a serious impact on the stability of the global economic order, which is a typical example of unilateralism, protectionism, and economic bullying.” Because of this, the country will raise its tariffs on American imports to 84%, effective April 10, 2025, at 12:01 am.
President Trump originally applied a 20% levy on Chinese goods back in February; this jumped to 54% when the president announced a new set of tariffs in early April 2025. The Chinese government responded to this development by hiking import taxes on American products to 34% and banning several rare earth metal exports. This did not sit well with the White House, which then added an extra 50% on top of the 54%, bringing the total to 104%. This, in turn, has led to the latest retaliation by the Chinese State Council.
Other countries, such as Vietnam, Taiwan, and Japan have taken steps to negotiate with the U.S. government, which is what the White House's goal seems to have been. China, however, is playing hardball, resulting in this counter-tariff race.
“It’s unfortunate that the Chinese actually don’t want to come and negotiate because they are the worst offenders in the international trading system," U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Fox Business. “They have the most imbalanced economy in the history of the modern world, and I can tell you that this escalation is a loser for them.”
The U.S. Trade Representative Office said the U.S. has only exported $143.5 billion to China while importing $438.9 billion, bringing the total trade value between the two countries to $582.4 billion. This trade war escalation, which impacts over half a trillion dollars’ worth of goods, will likely have a global impact on trade — especially in the computing sector, as many electronics parts are manufactured in China.
Many companies saw their stock prices tumble yesterday, including Intel. A few smaller companies such as Framework and Razer have halted sales of some, or even all, models in response to the increased prices brought on by tariffs. But giants such as Apple are stocking up on pre-tariff inventories — Apple even chartered five cargo jets to bring in extra merchandise (enough for several months). That should be enough for the company to weather the current situation, especially as new countries are now responding to Trump's tariffs by heading to the negotiation table or applying their own taxes to American goods.
