- President Donald Trump gave Beijing one day to withdraw its retaliation to his latest tariff salvo, or else he will add another 50% duty on Chinese imports. Last week, Trump imposed a fresh 34% levy on top of his earlier 20% tariff. If he follows through with his latest threat, the total tariff on China would hit 104%. And if he imposes “secondary tariffs” on China for buying Venezuelan oil, it could reach 129%.
The U.S.-China trade war could get a lot hotter as President Donald Trump threatened Beijing with an additional 50% tariff unless it backs down from retaliating against his earlier tariff.
Last week, Trump imposed a 34% duty on China, adding to his earlier 20% levy. China responded with a 34% tariff of its own on U.S. imports.
In a Truth Social post on Monday, Trump pointed out he previously warned any retaliation would be “immediately met with new and substantially higher Tariffs, over and above those initially set.”
“Therefore, if China does not withdraw its 34% increase above their already long term trading abuses by tomorrow, April 8th, 2025, the United States will impose ADDITIONAL Tariffs on China of 50%, effective April 9th,” he added. “Additionally, all talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us will be terminated!”
Meanwhile, negotiations with other countries will begin taking place immediately, Trump said. “Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Stocks remained deep in the red immediately after his threat, but later pared losses to close mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 349 points, or 0.9%, while the S&P 500 fell 0.2% and the Nasdaq ticked up 0.1%.
If Trump follows through with his latest threat, the total tariff on China would appear to hit 104%. And if he imposes “secondary tariffs” on China for buying Venezuelan oil, it could even reach 129%.
The Chinese embassy in the U.S. blasted Trump’s threat as “a typical move of unilateralism, protectionism and economic bullying.”
“We have stressed more than once that pressuring or threatening China is not a right way to engage with us,” embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu said in a statement to Fortune. “China will firmly safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.”
He also called on countries to “safeguard the international order with the UN at its core, and uphold the multilateral trading system with the WTO at its center.”
Analysts at UBS have warned the overall effective U.S. tariff rate could climb as high as 30% from 25% under Trump’s current plans, as a cycle of retaliation and escalation plays out.
According to data from Fitch Ratings, a 25% effective tariff rate would already be the highest since 1909. And if it reaches 30%, it would be the highest since 1872.
But by the third quarter, UBS sees U.S. tariffs starting to head back down as Trump faces more business, legal, and political pressure, and expects the effective rate to end 2025 at 10%-15%, though still above last year’s level of 2.5%. In fact, top names on Wall Street have started airing their concerns on tariffs.
But over the weekend, Trump and his staff gave no signs of backing down from their trade war, even as the stock-market selloff wipes out $6 trillion in market cap.
Administration officials said Sunday more than 50 countries targeted by Trump’s new tariffs have reached out to begin negotiations. Vietnam also confirmed that it has offered to remove all tariffs on U.S. imports to try to stave off the 46% levy Trump announced.
Earlier Monday, Trump doubled down on his message that Americans must endure some pain to achieve his goal of rebalancing trade relations.
“Don’t be Weak! Don’t be Stupid! Don’t be a PANICAN (A new party based on Weak and Stupid people!). Be Strong, Courageous, and Patient, and GREATNESS will be the result!” he wrote on Truth Social.
