Hong Kong – China said Thursday that it would take all the “necessary measures” to protect their legitimate interests after it was particularly beaten by the radical tariffs of President Donald Trump about US commercial partners worldwide.
As of April 9, imports from the second largest economy in the world will be subject to an additional rate in the United States of 34%, Trump said Wednesday at the White House, since he revealed a long list of what he called reciprocal tariffs. That is at the top of 20% in rates that it has imposed on China since it assumed the position in January, which takes the total of 54%, the highest US rate in any country.
The president said that the new rates, which he described as the greatest reorganization of the global economy since World War II, aim to revive national manufacturing and rebuild trade relations with a wide range of countries.
China said Thursday that he firmly opposed tariffs and would take “necessary measures” to protect their interests.
“The United States, under the appearance of ‘reciprocity’, has imposed tariffs on multiple countries, including China, which seriously violates the WTO rules and undermines the multilateral trade system based on rules,” said the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Guo Jiakun, in a report in Beijing.
Unlike past tariffs when smartphones and other electronic were exempt, the last taxes seem to affect them, said Tiannchen Xu, the main economist of China of the Economist Intelligence Unit, a financial prognosis service.
“No product made in China is safe,” said Tianncen.
The tariffs will be a “great blow” for low -cost manufacturers of China, particularly at a time when Chinese President Xi Jinping is fighting to increase domestic demand, he added.
In addition to the rates, Trump ordered the closure of the “Minimis” commercial escape that has fed the explosive growth of Chinese retailers such as Temu and Shein.
Xu said that the increase in the rate could boost China to negotiate, even on issues such as the sale of American Tiktok operations by its Chinese owner to prevent the application of short videos from being prohibited, whose deadline is Saturday.
China “has been very reluctant to interact with the United States, but I think his calculation could be changing,” he added.
The total of 54% is about 60% or more in rates that Trump threatened to impose on China during his 2024 presidential campaign, and according to some calculations it is actually more than 70% for some products when the tariffs imposed during Trump’s first mandate are taken into account.
“At this level, many Chinese products are no longer competitive,” said Xin Sun, a political economist and specialist in China at King’s College London.
