China says US stands to become ‘a joke in the history of the world economy’​on April 11, 2025 at 9:09 am

Singapore: Beijing has declared that the Chinese market for US exports has been destroyed by the spiralling trade feud, as it hiked its tariffs on American goods to 125 per cent in retaliation for President Donald Trump’s duties on its products.

Announcing the increase, China’s Finance Ministry signalled Beijing would no longer go tit-for-tat with the Trump administration, saying further increases would have “no economic significance” and the United States stood to “become a joke in the history of the world economy”.

“Under the current tariff level, there is no possibility of market acceptance for American goods exported to China,” the Finance Ministry said in a statement.

However, it kept the door open to continuing to impose other trade measures, such as adding more America companies to trade blacklists and tightening export controls.

“If the US continues the tariff figure game, China will ignore it. However, if the United States insists on continuing to substantially infringe on China’s interests, China will resolutely counter it and accompany it to the end,” it said.

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Beijing’s latest response comes after the White House on Friday (AEST) confirmed the cumulative tariff on China was at least 145 per cent, not 125 per cent as Trump had initially stated on social media.

China’s revised 125 per cent tariff on American goods, up from 84 per cent, will take effect from Saturday.

More to come

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