Cell telephones, chips and laptops get a reprieve from tariffs; China hikes tariffs on US items to 125%

China introduced Friday it’s going to hike tariffs on US items to 125%, up from the beforehand deliberate 84%, in direct response to President Trump’s reciprocal tariff strikes. Beijing hinted it will draw a line below additional tariff hikes — even when Washington continues its escalations.

The Ministry of Finance of the Folks’s Republic of China (MOF) stated: “The US alternately elevating abnormally excessive tariffs on China has develop into a numbers recreation, which has no sensible financial significance, and can develop into a joke within the historical past of the world financial system,” a Commerce Ministry spokesman stated in a press release asserting the countermeasure.

“At present tariff ranges, US exports to China are now not commercially viable. If Washington continues its ‘tariff quantity recreation’, Beijing will ignore it. However ought to the US persist in inflicting actual hurt on China’s pursuits, China will reply forcefully and with out hesitation,” the MOF added.

This transfer represents one other intensification within the US-China commerce warfare, elevating issues a couple of important international financial downturn. Following President Trump’s announcement final week of broad “reciprocal” tariffs on all US buying and selling companions, China has been essentially the most affected, with each nations escalating their tariff measures in retaliation.

As my Yahoo Finance colleague Ben Werschkul factors out, President Trump’s commerce warfare is now clearly targeted on one nation: China.

This turned evident when the president put a pause on his plans for extra “reciprocal” tariffs — apart from these concentrating on China, the world’s second-largest financial system.

On Thursday, the White Home clarified that the full base tariff on China is definitely 145%, surpassing the 125% initially reported and the determine Trump had hinted at on social media.

This up to date determine was revealed when the textual content of Trump’s government order to “modify reciprocal tariff charges” was launched to the media on Thursday morning.

And now, China has hit again, growing tariffs on US items to 125%, escalating the continuing commerce warfare between the 2 nations.