Trump admn slaps 104% tariffs on Chinese imports, open to talks with others
The US said on Tuesday that 104 per cent duties on imports from China will take effect shortly after midnight (April 9), even as the administration moved to quickly start talks with other trading partners targeted by President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff plan.
US stocks retreated on the news. Global markets had previously posted gains on hopes that Trump might be willing to negotiate down the array of country and product-specific trade barriers he is erecting around the world’s largest consumer market.
The administration has scheduled talks with South Korea and Japan, two close allies and major trading partners, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is due to visit next week.
However, the White House made it clear that country-specific tariffs of up to 50 per cent would nevertheless take effect at 12.01 am as planned.
Those tariffs will be especially steep for China, as Trump has ratcheted up duties on its imports to 104 per cent in response to counter-tariffs Beijing announced last week. China has refused to bow to what it called “blackmail” and has vowed to “fight to the end”.
Administration officials said they would not prioritise negotiations with the world’s No. 2 economic power.
Trump’s sweeping tariffs have raised fears of recession and upended a global trading order that has been in place for decades.
“Right now, we’ve received the instruction to prioritise our allies and our trading partners like Japan and Korea and others,” White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said on Fox News.
The White House said Trump instructed his trade team to create “tailor-made” deals for the nearly 70 countries that have reached out for talks.
Trump’s lead trade negotiator, Jamieson Greer, told Congress that his office was trying to work quickly but was not facing a particular deadline.
“The President has been clear, again, that he’s not doing exemptions or exceptions in the near term,” Greer told lawmakers.
China is bracing for a war of attrition, and manufacturers are warning about profits and scrambling to plan new overseas plants. Citing rising external risks, Citi cut its 2025 China GDP growth forecast to 4.2 per cent from 4.7 per cent.
The European Commission, meanwhile, is mulling counter-tariffs of 25 per cent on a range of US goods, including soybeans, nuts and sausages, though other potential items like bourbon whiskey were left off the list. Officials said they stood ready to negotiate.
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