China Hits Back With 125% Tariffs On US Goods, Xi Jinping Sought Support From European Union

China on Friday announced an increase in tariffs on US goods from 84 per cent to 125 per cent, shortly after President Donald Trump unveiled a steep hike in duties on Chinese imports, raising them to a staggering 145 per cent. The US imposition of abnormally high tariffs on China seriously violates international and economic trade rules, basic economic laws and common sense and is completely unilateral bullying and coercion,” news agency Reuters quoted the Chinese finance ministry as saying.

The ministry also said that it would “resolutely take countermeasures” and fight to the end if the US insisted on continuing to infringe on China’s interests in a substantive way. It also made it clear that the country would not retaliate any further even if the US continues to import additional tariffs on Chinese goods.

The hike followed sustained pressure from the White House on the world’s second-largest economy and leading US import source, which was specifically targeted for an additional tariff increase — despite Washington easing similar ‘reciprocal’ duties on other nations.

In his first reaction to Trump’s tariff onslaught, Chinese premier Xi Jinping urged the European Union to join forces with Beijing to resist what he called “unilateral bullying”. “China and Europe should fulfil their international responsibilities… and jointly resist unilateral bullying practices,” state news agency Xinhua quoted Jinping as saying.

Earlier, China imposed tariffs of up to 84 per cent on US goods starting Thursday, up from the previously declared 34 per cent. China also filed a new complaint with the World Trade Organization, stating that US tariffs threaten global trade stability. In addition, China added 12 US companies to its export control list and placed six others on its unreliable entities list in response to actions taken by Trump.