Trade war: China hits back at US, raises tariffs to 125%

China has announced a sweeping increase in tariffs on American imports, raising them to 125 percent, escalating the trade war between the economic powerhouses.  The move comes in response to President Donald Trump’s decision to ramp up duties on Chinese goods to 145 percent. In a statement on Friday, Chinese Finance Ministry slammed the United […]

China has announced a sweeping increase in tariffs on American imports, raising them to 125 percent, escalating the trade war between the economic powerhouses. 

The move comes in response to President Donald Trump’s decision to ramp up duties on Chinese goods to 145 percent.

In a statement on Friday, Chinese Finance Ministry slammed the United States’ latest action, calling the increase in tariffs “abnormally high” and accusing Washington of “unilateral bullying and coercion.”

“The US imposition of abnormally high tariffs on China seriously violates international and economic trade rules, basic economic laws and common sense,” the ministry said.

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China, which remains the second-largest source of US imports, had been facing a 34 percent tariff when President Trump first introduced his global tariff programme.

That rate has now surged through successive rounds of tit-for-tat levies, with the latest escalation pushing the US tariff burden on Chinese imports to a historic 145 percent.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping, in a meeting with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Friday, stressed that trade wars have no winners and called for China and Europe to “jointly oppose unilateral bullying,” according to state media.

China’s new rates on US goods are set to take effect on April 12.