By Chinelo Obogo
China announced on Friday that it will increase tariffs on U.S. goods from 84% to 125%, a move which will escalate the trade conflict between the world’s two largest economies. The dispute has caused turmoil in the market turmoil and has raised concerns over a potential global economic slowdown.
This week, while the U.S. President Donald Trump delayed planned tariff hikes on imports from other nations, his administration increased levies on Chinese goods to 125%, bringing the total U.S. tariffs on China to 145%. Beijing condemned the measures as “economic bullying” and vowed to retaliate, with the new tariffs taking effect Saturday.
In a statement announcing the decision, a Chinese Finance Ministry spokesperson criticised US approach, calling its repeated tariff hikes “a farce that will go down in world economic history.”
“If the U.S. persists in gravely undermining China’s interests, China will resolutely retaliate and defend its position without hesitation,” the spokesperson warned.
China’s Commerce Ministry also revealed plans to lodge an additional legal challenge with the World Trade Organization (WTO) against the U.S. tariffs, reinforcing its strategy of multilateral resistance amid the bilateral standoff.
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