KUALA LUMPUR — China today stated its opposition to the US administration’s threat to add another 50% tariff if Beijing does not roll back its retaliatory 34% tariff on US goods.
China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said if the US escalates tariffs, China will “resolutely take countermeasures to safeguard its own rights and interests”.
“If the US insists on its own way, China will fight to the end,” a spokesperson for the ministry said to Global Times.
The ministry also called the latest threat “a grave mistake on top of an existing one”, adding that China “will never accept” the US’ “blackmail nature”.
It also called the “so-called ‘reciprocal tariffs’” a “groundless and typical unilateral bullying practice”.
“The countermeasures China has taken are aimed at safeguarding its sovereignty, security and development interests and maintaining the normal international trade order, and are completely legitimate,” the ministry spokesperson said.
Trump on Monday threatened the additional 50% tariff on China if Beijing did not pull back its 34% tariff on American goods by tomorrow (April 8), one day before reciprocal tariffs are to be enforced.
China on Friday imposed the 34% in retaliation for Trump’s reciprocal tariff of the same figure announced on April 2. Trump’s 34%, however, is on top of an earlier 20% he had imposed over Beijing’s alleged role in the supply chain of the drug fentanyl.
Trump has also said he will not hold any talks with China in response to its request for meetings.
The Communist Party’s official newspaper, meanwhile, has published an editorial Monday, stating that Beijing is not “clinging to illusions” of any deal despite keeping the door to negotiations open, Bloomberg reports.
The business wire also reported Wu Xinbo, director at Fudan University’s Center for American Studies in Shanghai, saying, “We believe that before we can sit down to negotiate a deal we have to fight, because the other side wants to fight first”.
“You just slapped my face and I’m not just going to call you and beg your pardon,” Wu was quoted saying. – April 8, 2025