China has raised its retaliatory tariffs on US imports by an extreme amount as President Xi Jinping issued a strong warning to Donald Trump.
The trade war between China and the US has intensified in the past few days, with President Donald Trump placing as much as a 104 percent tax on Chinese goods that came into effect on Wednesday (April 9), with Jinping hitting back with an additional 84 percent tariff hike.
President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping have been locked in a brutal tariff war since the Republican reclaimed the Oval Office in January (Qilai Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Now, that 84 percent has surged to 125 percent in the latest economic blow to be carried out on the world stage, and the stand-off between the two nations shows no sign of faltering.
It comes as Trump raised tariffs on Chinese imports to as much as 145 percent on the same day he paused tariffs for 90 days for most nations – including an island inhabited by only penguins and seals.
The Chinese State Council Tariff Commission issued the following statement: “On April 10, 2025, the US government announced that the ‘reciprocal tariff’ on Chinese goods exported to the US would be further increased to 125%.
“The US’s imposition of abnormally high tariffs on China seriously violates international economic and trade rules, basic economic laws and common sense, and is completely a unilateral bullying and coercion.
Jinping has hit back at Trump’s tariffs with a huge 125 percent tax on American goods (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)
“In accordance with the Tariff Law of the People’s Republic of China, the Customs Law of the People’s Republic of China, the Foreign Trade Law of the People’s Republic of China and other laws and regulations and the basic principles of international law, and with the approval of the State Council, starting from April 12, 2025, the tariff increase measures on imported goods originating from the United States will be adjusted.”
The statement continued: “The relevant matters are as follows.
“1. Adjust the tariff rate stipulated in the ‘Announcement of the State Council Tariff Commission on Adjusting the Tariff Measures on Imports Originating in the United States’ (Tax Commission Announcement No. 5 of 2025) from 84% to 125%. Given that at the current tariff level, there is no market acceptance for US goods exported to China. If the US continues to impose tariffs on Chinese goods exported to the US, China will ignore it.
The ‘trade war’ began when Trump signed an executive order which accused China of facilitating illegal immigration and drugs into the US (Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“2. Other matters shall be implemented in accordance with the ‘Announcement of the Tariff Commission of the State Council on the Imposition of Additional Tariffs on Imported Goods Originating in the United States’ (Tax Commission Announcement No. 4 of 2025).”
Within days of returning to the White House, Trump took aim at China, Mexico and Canada, accusing them of facilitating illegal immigration and drugs into the States.
A 10 percent tariff was then applied to all Chinese imports to the US on February 4.
This provoked China to strike back, applying 15 percent tariffs on coal and liquefied natural gas plus a 10 percent levy on crude oil, agricultural machinery and large-engine cars from the US as of February 10.
The countries have continued tirelessly to where the tariffs are today; China now holds a 125 percent tax on American goods, while the US is taxing Chinese imports as much as 145 percent.
