- China regards Trump’s growing marginal production as a “joke.”
- Beijing’s latest 125% tax will take effect from Saturday.
- We will ignore our further actions: China’s Ministry of Finance.
China said on Friday it would raise tariffs on U.S. goods to 125%, but would ignore further taxes from President Donald Trump, as it would no longer make economic sense for importers.
After a week of market chaos, Beijing sees Trump’s growing marginal production as “jokes” and “digital games” as the world’s two largest economies take turns to build trade barriers.
China accused Trump of releasing market turmoil with huge tariffs that touched the world, and said the United States should “take full responsibility” for the chaos.
Trump has deployed a wide range of tariffs, including painful tax collections in dozens of major economies, to force manufacturers to build their own foundations in the United States and to lower the barriers to U.S. goods.
But he blinked first after the market turmoil this week, his efforts reshape the post-war global business system and freeze 90 days of tariffs, even though he raised a staggering 145% for China.
Beijing’s latest retaliation raised its taxes to 125%, effective Saturday.
But China’s Treasury Department said further U.S. actions will be ignored because “at current tariff levels, U.S. goods exported to China cannot be accepted by the market.”
Beijing’s Ministry of Commerce said: “The United States imposed a round of unusually high tariffs on China, which has no practical significance in economics.”
“If the United States continues to play the tariff number game, China will ignore it,” a spokesperson said.
Beijing also said it will file a lawsuit with the World Trade Organization in the latest round of taxes.
“Beautiful stuff”
Trump acknowledged that his tariff strategy caused “transition costs and transition issues,” but he dismissed global market turmoil.
“In the end, it will be a beautiful thing,” he said.
He described the EU as “very smart” to avoid retaliation for taxation.
“(EU) is ready to declare revenge. Then they heard what we did to China,” Trump said.
But Ursula von der Leyen, head of the Group of 27 countries, told the Financial Times that it still has a “broad countermeasure” if negotiations with Trump hit the game.
“One example is that you can collect advertising revenue from digital services,” she said.
French President Emmanuel Macron also urged the EU to continue preparing to take action to deal with tariffs, which was only suspended but not abandoned.
He said on X: “In the European Commission, we must show a strong performance: Europe must continue to do all the necessary countermeasures.”
During talks with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Friday, state media quoted Xi Jinping as saying that China and the EU should simply cooperate on this issue.
“China and Europe should fulfill their international responsibilities … and jointly resist unilateral bullying,” Xi Jinping said.
He stressed that this will not only “protect one’s own legitimate rights and interests, but also… protect international fairness and justice.”
“No winner”
New Falls on Wall Street, Asian markets were under pressure again on Friday.
Tokyo sank more than four percent (in a surge of more than 9 percent), while Sydney, Seoul, Singapore and others also fell.
European markets are also retreating in China’s latest Salvo.
Oil and the dollar slide over fears of a global slowdown, while gold’s new record is above $3,200 as investors who have been scared by Trump’s unstable policies abandoning normal rock US Treasury bonds.
“The highest sugar from Trump’s tariff pause is rapidly disappearing,” said Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management.
“Bottom line: The two largest economies in the world are in a full-blown trade war – no winners.”
‘Golden Age’
Critics of Trump’s policy say they are creating confusion for companies that rely on complex supply chains, alienate close allies and make goods more expensive for American consumers.
But his Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick posted on social media Thursday: “The golden age is coming. We are committed to protecting our interests, participating in global negotiations and exploding our economy.”
Meanwhile, Trump warned that tariffs could come back in 90 days.
“If we can’t reach an agreement … then we will return to who we are,” he said.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney called Trump’s reversal “welcome a probation” and said Ottawa will begin negotiations with Washington on a new economic deal after the April 28 election.
Vietnam said it had agreed to the U.S. start trade talks, and Pakistan is sending a delegation to Washington.
Xi Jinping will travel to Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia next week as China fights for a trade war with Trump, with tariff drama expected to take a high point in the agenda.
