China slaps 34% retaliatory tariff on the U.S., says Trump’s levy ‘seriously violates’ world trade rules

China announced Friday that it will impose a 34 per cent tariff on imports of all U.S. products beginning April 10, part of a flurry of retaliatory measures following U.S. President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” slate of double-digit tariffs. 

The new tariff matches the rate of the U.S. “reciprocal” tariff of 34 per cent on Chinese exports Trump ordered this week. The Commerce Ministry in Beijing also said in a notice that it will impose more export controls on rare earths, which are materials used in high-tech products such as computer chips and electric vehicle batteries. 

Additionally, the Chinese government said it has added 27 firms to lists of companies subject to trade sanctions or export controls. Among them, 16 are subject to a ban on the export of “dual-use” goods. High Point Aerotechnologies, a defence tech company, and Universal Logistics Holding, a publicly traded transportation and logistics company, were among those listed.

Beijing also announced it filed a lawsuit with the World Trade Organization over the tariffs issue. 

“The United States’ imposition of so-called ‘reciprocal tariffs’ seriously violates WTO rules, seriously damages the legitimate rights and interests of WTO members, and seriously undermines the rules-based multilateral trading system and international economic and trade order,” the Commerce Ministry said. “It is a typical unilateral bullying practice that endangers the stability of the global economic and trade order. China firmly opposes this,” it said. 

Chinese tariffs on U.S. coal, natural gas

In February, China announced a 15 per cent tariff on imports of coal and liquefied natural gas products from the U.S. It separately added a 10 per cent tariff on crude oil, agricultural machinery and large-engine cars. The latest tariffs apply to all products made in the U.S., according to a statement from the Ministry of Finance’s State Council Tariff Commission.

Trump’s latest tariff hikes on U.S. imports are compelling countries and industries to scramble for footing and raising fears of a global recession.

“The recent announcements will have substantial implications for global trade and economic growth prospects,” the World Trade Organization said in a statement on Thursday. “While the situation is rapidly evolving, our initial estimates suggest that these measures, coupled with those introduced since the beginning of the year, could lead to an overall contraction of around one per cent in global merchandise trade volumes this year, representing a downward revision of nearly four percentage points from previous projections.”

While China was hit with significant tariffs, it is an open question if other Asian countries could take advantage of the situation in trade with the U.S. Washington hit India, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Malaysia and Vietnam with tariffs of between 27 per cent to 49 per cent.

Days before the Trump announcement, China, Japan and South Korea held their first dialogue together in five years.

At the meeting, the countries’ trade ministers agreed to speed up talks on a South Korea-Japan-China free trade agreement deal to promote “regional and global trade,” according to a statement released after the meeting.

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