China vows retaliation after Trump’s latest tariff threat

BEIJING — China said on Tuesday it will not back down in the face of President Trump’s fresh threat to impose an additional 50% tariff on Chinese imports, as the trade war between the world’s top two economies looked set to worsen.

Trump said on Truth Social he would impose the new tariffs on China if Beijing did not retract a 34% retaliatory tariff on U.S. goods that it announced in response to Trump’s initial salvo last Wednesday.

In a strongly worded statement, China’s commerce ministry said the U.S. threat to impose additional tariffs “is adding a mistake on top of a mistake, once again exposing the extortionate nature of the United States, which China will never accept.”

“If the United States obstinately clings to this course, China will have no choice but to see it through to the end,” the statement said, adding that if the U.S. escalates its tariff measures, “China will resolutely take countermeasures to safeguard its rights and interests.”

Global equity markets have been pummelled as recession fears have grown following Trump’s “Liberation Day” announcement of tariffs that touch most countries and most U.S. imports.

On Tuesday, however, Asian stocks took a breather and gained ground in early trading, after heavy losses on Monday. Key indexes in China, Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea were up.

If Trump follows through, Chinese goods coming into the U.S. will be subject to a combined 104% tariff. Trump hit Beijing with 20% in tariffs in the first weeks of his presidency, and then an additional 34% tariff on Wednesday.

According to the office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the U.S. imported $438.9 billion in goods from China last year, up 2.8 percent from 2023.

Aowen Cao contributed to this report.