China is set to increase import tariffs on American goods to 125 per cent, the Ministry of Finance announced on Friday.
The increase will come into effect on Saturday in response to US President Donald Trump’s decision to raise tariffs on Chinese products to 145 per cent.
Since Trump’s announcement on Wednesday, 2 April, of widespread import tariffs for numerous countries, the conflict between the United States and China has escalated, with frequent new and higher tariffs.
China has dismissed the American tariffs as "economically meaningless" and "a joke". It plans to file a case with the World Trade Organization (WTO), citing a "severe violation of international trade rules" and "unilateral intimidation and coercion."
The ministry also stated that any further US import tariffs will be "ignored."
"Given the current tariff levels, there is no possibility of accepting American goods exported to China in the market. If the US continues to impose tariffs on Chinese goods, China will not pay attention," it said.
China has asserted that it will "fight to the end" if the United States continues to violate Chinese interests, and places the blame for the economic damage from the tariff war squarely on the United States.
Until 2025, mutual import tariffs between the world’s largest economies averaged less than 20 per cent.
Annual trade between China and the United States is valued at approximately $700 billion.
The US primarily imports smartphones, laptops, and lithium-ion batteries from China, while China mainly imports natural gas, oil, soybeans, gas turbines, and semiconductor manufacturing equipment from the US.
