China will soon impose an additional 34 per cent tariffs on all American imports in retaliation for Donald Trump‘s 34 per cent levy.
Beijing announced the measure today, the most serious escalation in a trade war with Trump that has fed fears of a recession and triggered a global stock market rout.
The tariffs are in addition to the existing duties already imposed on US goods.
The Finance Ministry said the duties will come into effect on April 10 as a countermeasure to sweeping tariffs imposed by Trump.
China announced controls on exports of medium and heavy rare-earths, including samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium and yttrium to the US, effective April 4.
Beijing also added 11 entities to the ‘unreliable entity’ list, which allows Beijing to take punitive actions against foreign entities.
China has also filed a lawsuit with the World Trade Organization (WTO) over sweeping US tariffs imposed on its exports.
‘The purpose of the Chinese government’s implementation of export controls on relevant items in accordance with the law is to better safeguard national security and interests, and to fulfill international obligations such as non-proliferation,’ the Commerce Ministry said in a statement.
‘China has filed a lawsuit under the WTO dispute settlement mechanism,’ Beijing’s commerce ministry said in a statement.
It comes after the Commerce Ministry issued a statement yesterday condemning the US measures as a ‘typical act of unilateral bullying’.
Beijing urged the Trump Administration to ‘immediately’ remove the tariffs and encouraged the US to resolve dispute through ‘fair and equal dialogue’.
Nations from Canada to China have readied retaliation in an escalating trade war after Trump raised US tariff barriers to their highest level in more than a century this week, leading to a plunge in world financial markets.
In Japan, one of America’s top trading partners, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said that the tariffs had created a ‘national crisis’ as a plunge in banking shares on Friday set Tokyo’s stock market on course for its worst week in years.
Investment bank JP Morgan said it now sees a 60 per cent chance of the global economy entering recession by year end, up from 40 per cent previously.
This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.
