United States President Donald Trump announced 34% tariffs on Chinese imports, unveiling them as part of a sweeping “Liberation Day” package aimed at reshaping American trade policy. The 34% comes on top of the 20% tariffs Trump earlier imposed on China. China hit back immediately with the same tariff rate of 34% on U.S. imports, additional export controls on seven rare earth elements crucial for manufacturing key products used in the semiconductor, defense, aerospace and green energy industries, and a lawsuit at the WTO. The effective tariff rate on Chinese imports now amounts to around 65%, if all applicable tariffs are included.
Meanwhile, President Trump warned China on April 7 that its imports would face an additional 50% tariff – raising the total levy to more than 100% – on April 9 unless it lifts the retaliatory levies of 34% it imposed on American goods in response to the Trump administration’s heavy new duties last week. Additionally, all talks with China concerning requested meetings will be terminated, Trump added.
China also vowed to “continue to take resolute measures” to protect its interests against “suppressive” tariffs imposed by the United States. In a position statement, China called on the world to “jointly oppose all forms of unilateralism and protectionism” and “safeguard the international system with the United Nations at its core”. The statement warned: “We will not provoke troubles, but we never flinch when trouble comes our way. Pressuring and threatening are not the correct way to engage with China. We have taken, and will continue to take, firm measures to defend our sovereignty, security, and development interests.” Chinese mainstream and social media have been swarming with news of the U.S. market plunge as Trump’s tariffs trigger fears of a global trade war and recession.
Speaking in the White House Rose Garden on April 2, President Trump held up a chart listing numerous U.S. trading partners and the tariffs he said they charged the U.S. The calculations reflected “a combined rate of all their tariffs, non-monetary barriers and other forms of cheating”, explaining that the U.S. would charge other countries about half as much as they charged the U.S. China, he said, charged tariffs of 67% to the U.S., noting that the figure included the effects of currency manipulation and trade barriers. The new 34% tariffs on Chinese imports include a 10% universal baseline applicable to all countries plus a 24% tariff specific to the country. The 10% came into effect on April 5, while the higher reciprocal tariffs will take effect on April 9. In his second term, Trump already imposed two rounds of 10% tariffs on Chinese goods, first in February and then in March. He has cited a wide range of rationales in support of imposing tariffs, including protecting national security, addressing trade practices such as intellectual property theft, reducing the U.S. trade deficit, revitalizing domestic manufacturing and China's role in the fentanyl supply chain.
To calculate the 34% reciprocal tariffs on China, the Trump team apparently took the annual U.S. trade deficit with China, USD295 billion, then divided that by the value of imports the U.S. buys from China, USD440 billion. That calculation results in 67%, the overall tariff figure Trump claimed was the level of China’s tariffs on U.S. imports. By halving that – Trump said the U.S. was only charging half of what it is owed – and rounding up, the result was a U.S. reciprocal tariff on Chinese imports of 34%. Nancy Qian, Economist at Northwestern University, warned that assuming that every bilateral trade deficit should be zero “does not make sense in a multilateral world”.
Separately, Trump issued an executive order to end duty exemptions for low-value shipments from China – under the “de minimis” rule – starting on May 2. The policy gives duty-free treatment for packages that are worth less than USD800, and Trump first tried to eliminate the exception for China in February but implementation was paused due to logistical issues. The change is expected to have a significant effect on low-cost shipments from mainland China and Hong Kong, particularly those from e-commerce giants like Temu and Shein. In 2024, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency processed a daily average of more than 3.8 million de minimis packages, with a substantial percentage of them coming from China.
Trump said he would consider lowering tariffs on China if Beijing supported a deal for ByteDance to divest its short-video app TikTok to a U.S. buyer. He extended the sales deadline with 75 days to provide more time to reach a deal.
Responding to the tariff announcement, Liu Pengyu, Spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington, said: “China’s opposition to the imposition of additional tariffs has always been consistent and clear.” “China believes that protectionism leads nowhere, and trade and tariff wars have no winners.” China has already implemented retaliatory measures to the first rounds of Trump tariffs. In February, Beijing imposed 15% tariffs on coal and natural gas from the U.S., and levied 10% duties on petroleum, agricultural equipment, high-emission vehicles and pickup trucks. To the second round of tariffs, China responded with duties on poultry and agricultural products, including 15% on chicken, wheat, corn and cotton, and 10% on soybeans, pork, beef, fruit, vegetables and dairy products. It also suspended imports of American logs and banned three firms from exporting soybeans to China. Apart from retaliatory tariffs, Beijing also put more U.S. companies on its entity and export control lists. Meanwhile, Beijing launched a formal dispute at the World Trade Organization (WTO) and also began an anti-monopoly investigation into Google in February. Most Google services – including search, Gmail and Google Maps – are not available in mainland China, but the company has maintained some operations in the country, particularly for advertising.
