China announced on Friday that it will impose a 34% tariffs on US goods, mirroring the same tariff rate recently enacted by President Donald Trump under his reciprocal tariff strategy. The new tariffs are set to take effect on April 10, according to The Wall Street Journal.
“China played it wrong, they panicked—the one thing they cannot afford to do,” Trump wrote on Truth Social in response to the announcement.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun criticized the U.S. tariffs at a briefing in Beijing, stating that the American trade policies “gravely violate World Trade Organization rules” and undermine the global trading system.
“China firmly rejects this and will do what is necessary to defend our legitimate rights and interests,” Guo said. “We have emphasized more than once that trade and tariff wars have no winners.
Protectionism leads nowhere. We urge the U.S. to stop doing the wrong thing and resolve trade differences through fair and mutual consultations.”
The newly announced tariffs come on top of an existing 20% tariff imposed on Chinese imports by the Trump administration.
Despite concerns over potential economic disruption, U.S. officials defended the tariff increases as necessary to level the playing field.
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