US President Donald Trump has raised the tariffs on Chinese goods to 125% in response to retaliatory measures imposed by Beijing earlier on Wednesday.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote that “based on the lack of respect that China has shown to the World’s Markets, I am hereby raising the Tariff charged to China by the United States of America to 125%, effective immediately.”
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He expressed hope that Beijing would realize that “ripping off the U.S.A., and other Countries, is no longer sustainable or acceptable.”
The move came hours after China’s Finance Ministry announced a tariff hike of its own, which brought tariffs levied on American imports to a total of 84%, thus mirroring Washington’s previous increase by 50%.
The continual tit-for-tat escalation of the trade war between the world’s two top economies was set in motion when Trump imposed a 20% tariff on all Chinese goods in March. Last week, he added an additional 34%, to which Beijing responded in kind.
Writing on Truth Social, the US president also announced a 90-day pause and a “substantially lowered Reciprocal Tariff during this period, of 10%, also effective immediately” granted to the multitude of other nations that Washington has recently imposed sweeping tariffs on.
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Trump cited calls made by “more than 75 countries” to the Departments of Commerce, Treasury, and the Office of the United States Trade Representative. According to the president, these nations expressed willingness to discuss trade barriers, tariffs, currency manipulation, and non-monetary tariffs.
Trump also pointed out that, unlike China, “these Countries have not, at my strong suggestion, retaliated in any way, shape, or form against the United States.”
