BEIJING STRIKES BACK: China imposes reciprocal tariffs on the United States, markets in decline!

China announced on Friday that it will impose reciprocal tariffs of 34% on all imports from the United States starting April 10.

On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced an additional 34% tariff on all Chinese imports into the United States, a move that could trigger serious reconsideration of relations and an escalation of the trade war between the world’s two largest economies.

“This U.S. practice does not comply with international trade rules, seriously undermines China’s legitimate rights and interests, and represents a typical example of unilateral bullying behavior,” said a statement from the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council of China, which published the countermeasures.

Since returning to office in January, Trump has already imposed two rounds of additional 10% tariffs on all Chinese imports, which the White House stated were necessary to stop the influx of illegal fentanyl from China into the United States. This means that Chinese goods arriving in the U.S. would effectively be subject to a total tariff of 54%.

Tariffs of 54% are higher than many analysts expected and could fundamentally reshape relations—as well as around half a trillion (500 billion) dollars in trade—between the two economies after decades of interdependence.

As part of the retaliatory measures announced on Friday, China also added 11 U.S. companies to its “unreliable entities list,” including drone manufacturers, and imposed export controls on 16 U.S. firms to prohibit the export of Chinese dual-use goods.

The Ministry of Commerce also announced anti-dumping investigations on imports of medical CT X-ray tubes originating from the United States and India.