China announced on Friday that it would raise tariffs on United States goods to 125 per cent but would ignore further levies by President Donald Trump because it no longer makes economic sense for importers to buy from America.
Following a week of market chaos, during which the two largest economies in the world alternated in imposing trade barriers, Beijing characterised Trump’s escalating brinkmanship as a “joke” and merely a “numbers game.”
China accused Trump of unleashing turbulence in the market with the sweeping tariffs that have hit the world and said the United States “should bear full responsibility” for the chaos.
Trump deployed sweeping tariffs, including painfully higher levies for dozens of major economies to force manufacturers to base themselves in the United States and for countries to lower barriers to US goods.
This week, Trump backed down on his plan to change the global trade system and decided to pause many tariffs for 90 days.
However, he increased tariffs on China to a shocking 145 percent. In response, China has raised its tariffs to 125 percent, starting Saturday.
However, the Chinese finance ministry said further US action will be ignored because “at the current tariff level, there is no possibility of market acceptance for US goods exported to China.”
“The United States’ imposition of round upon round of abnormally high tariffs on China has become a numbers game with no practical significance in economics,” Beijing’s commerce ministry said.
“If the US continues to play the tariff numbers game, China will ignore it,” a spokesperson said.
Beijing also said it would sue the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over the latest round of levies.
