WASHINGTON: The White House has announced that the United States will levy a sweeping 104 per cent tariffs on China, effective from Wednesday, as Beijing has not removed its retaliatory tariffs.
The announcement follows US President Donald Trump’s 24 hours’ deadline to China to roll back or “withdraw” the retaliatory 34 per cent tariff it imposed on US goods, failing which Chinese goods would be punished with 104 per cent tariffs.
According to a Fox Business report, the tariff — which takes into account existing levies and fresh duties under Section 301 of the Trade Act — will be enforced starting at 00:01 ET (04:01 GMT) on Tuesday, April 9.
Earlier in the day, China had responded to President Trump’s deadline to “withdraw” Beijing’s retaliatory move, calling it “blackmail”.
“The US threat to escalate tariffs against China is a mistake on top of a mistake, which once again exposes the US’s blackmailing nature,” China’s commerce ministry said in a statement. Trump on Monday threatened to impose additional 50 per cent tariffs on China on top of the imposed 34 per cent reciprocal tariffs announced last week.