China Slaps US With 34% Tariffs In Retaliation To Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ As Trade War Heats Up

Last Updated:April 04, 2025, 16:20 IST

Trump imposed reciprocal tariffs on several countries - US allies and foes alike - including an additional 34% rate on Chinese imports. China vowed countermeasures to Trump's move.

Trade tensions between the US and China have risen with tit for-tat tariffs. (Reuters)

After US President Donald Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on several countries, China retaliated by imposing 34% tariffs on all American imports, starting from April 10, the government announced on Friday.

Trump had slapped 10% import duties on all nations and far higher levies on imports from dozens of specific countries – including top trade partners China and the European Union. Trump’s ‘Liberation Army’ move sent shockwaves across global markets as the S&P 500 dropped 4.8 percent in its biggest loss since 2020 on Thursday, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1,679 points.

Trump imposed additional 34% tariffs on a 20% rate imposed on China last month, bringing the total additional tariffs on imports from the world’s second-largest economy by the Trump administration to 54%.

China Vowed Countermeasures

Shortly after the US taxes were announced, China said it “firmly opposes" the new tariffs on its exports, and vowed “countermeasures to safeguard its own rights and interests". The Chinese Commerce Ministry also said the tariffs did not comply with international trade rules.

Beijing also imposed export controls on seven rare earth elements, its commerce ministry said, including gadolinium — commonly used in MRIs — and yttrium, which is used in consumer electronics.

China previously responded to US tariffs with levies of up to 15 percent on a range of US agricultural goods, including soybeans, pork and chicken. Beijing rejected that the US had suffered losses in international trade and called for “dialogue" to resolve the dispute. “There is no winner in a trade war, and there is no way out for protectionism," it said.

How Will Trump’s Tariffs Impact China?

The US and China are each other’s top trading partners, with sales of Chinese goods in the United States totalling over $500 billion last year, which constitutes 16.4% of the country’s exports. However, China has been struggling with a long-running debt crisis in the real estate sector and low consumption that has hampered its economic recovery.

An intensified trade war will likely mean that China’s hopes for a strong economic growth year on its exports – which reached record highs in 2024 – will be dashed. “The US tariffs on Chinese imports announced so far this year could fully negate the lift from the fiscal stimulus measures announced so far," Frederic Neumann, Chief Asia Economist at HSBC, told AFP.

China’s top exports to the United States, including electronics, electrical machinery, textiles and clothing, are likely to be the hardest hit by tariffs. China is also under sector-specific tariffs on steel, aluminium and car imports.

However, several economists say Trump’s tariffs may end up hurting the US more. “US imports from China are dominated by capital goods and industrial materials instead of consumer goods," said Gene Ma, Head of China Research at the Institute of Finance. “The tariff will hurt US manufacturers as well as consumers."

(with AFP inputs)

Beijing, China

News world China Slaps US With 34% Tariffs In Retaliation To Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ As Trade War Heats Up