China hits back at US imports as Trump s fresh tariffs take effect

BEIJING - China on March 4 swiftly retaliated against fresh US tariffs, announcing 10 to 15 per cent hikes to import levies covering a range of American agricultural and food products, moving the world’s top two economies a step closer toward an all-out trade war.

Beijing also placed 25 US firms under export and investment restrictions on national security grounds, but refrained from punishing any household names, as it did when it retaliated against the Trump administration’s Feb 4 tariffs.

Ten of these 25 US firms were targeted by China for selling arms to Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory. Taiwan rejects China’s sovereignty claims.

China’s latest retaliatory tariffs came as the extra 10 per cent duty US President Donald Trump threatened China with last week entered into force at 5.01am GMT (1.01pm Singapore time) on March 4, resulting in a cumulative 20 per cent tariff in response to what the White House considers Chinese inaction over drug flows.

China has accused the US of fentanyl blackmail, and it has some of the toughest anti-drug policies in the world.

Analysts have said Beijing still hoped to negotiate a truce with the Trump administration, but the tit-for-tat retaliatory tariffs threaten to escalate into an all-out trade war between the two economic giants.

The new US tariff represents an additional hike to preexisting levies on thousands of Chinese goods.

Some of these products bore the brunt of sharply higher US tariffs under former president Joe Biden in 2024, including a doubling of duties on Chinese semiconductors to 50 per cent and a quadrupling of tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles to over 100 per cent.

The 20 per cent tariff will apply to several major US consumer electronics imports from China that were previously untouched, including smartphones, laptops, video game consoles,