China raises duties on US goods to 125 hitting back at Trump tariff hike

BEIJING - China will impose 125 per cent tariffs on US goods from April 12, up from the 84 per cent previously announced, the finance ministry said on April 11.

The ministry added in a statement that if the US continues to impose additional tariffs on Chinese goods exported to the US, China will ignore it because US goods would no longer make economic sense for importers.

The hike comes after the White House kept the pressure on China, the world’s No.2 economy and second-biggest provider of US imports, by singling it out for an additional tariff increase, having paused most of the “reciprocal” duties imposed on dozens of other countries.

“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,” China’s Finance Ministry said.

Washington’s duties on Chinese products have “become a numbers game with no practical significance in economics”, a spokesperson said. “It will only further expose the United States’... bullying and coercion. It will become a joke.” REUTERS, AFP

This story is developing.

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