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.
Ken Dryden, Hall of Fame goalie for the Montreal Canadiens, dies at age 78
Dryden backstopped the NHL's most successful franchise to championships in six of his eight seasons in the league from 1970-71 to '78-79. He died after a fight with cancer.
‘Twinless’ is a dark comedy that doubles up on the twists
Dylan O'Brien and James Sweeney craft a kind of chemistry that is equal parts funny and heart-wrenching.
20 years later, is it time to quit ‘Brokeback Mountain’?
Back in 2005, Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal captured lust shading into love, and love decaying into heartbreak. The movie got a lot of things right — but not everything.
Russ & Daughters in NYC celebrates ‘100 years of appetizing’ and family
At Russ & Daughters, it takes three months to learn how to slice salmon. NPR's Scott Simon visits the 100 year-old appetizing store to try his hand at the fine art and talk about their new cookbook.
As opposition to an Alabama medical waste treatment facility boils over, a mysterious Facebook page weighs in
Dozens of residents opposed to Harvest Med Waste Disposal’s site in Remlap packed the Blount County courthouse to voice their concerns. Online, a paid campaign supporting the facility has been active, though its backers have remained anonymous.
In April NPR profiled people who couldn’t get their HIV drugs. How are they faring now?
In Zambia, we met people who are HIV positive, couldn't get drugs to suppress the virus after U.S. aid cuts and were seeing symptoms. We checked in on them — and the man who's been their champion.
