China declared raising its tariffs against the U.S. to 125% from Saturday in the latest escalation in the burgeoning trade war.
China bumped up its tariffs on U.S. goods to 125%
This is the latest move in what’s been turning into a pretty tense trade fight between the two countries. Things keep heating up, and this one’s definitely going to sting a bit more.
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China raises tariffs in direct response to Trump
This move is a straight-up clapback at Trump. Earlier this week, China had set the tariffs at 84%, but now they’re jumping way up to 125%. Basically matching what the U.S. is throwing at them.
Beijing wasn’t quiet about it either. They said the U.S. tariffs go against “basic economic laws and common sense” after Trump hiked the rate on Chinese imports.
But the finance ministry didn’t hold back
In a statement, they called these “abnormally high tariffs” nothing but “unilateral bullying and coercion.”
Beijing is only mirroring Washington’s tariff increases
China’s just matching what Washington did, really. The jump in tariffs isn’t random, it lines up with Trump’s latest round of hikes. The U.S. even said that the 125% China hit back with just stacks on top of the 20% that was already in place.
The U.S. maintains pressure despite backing off others
Even though the Trump team eased up on a bunch of other countries this week, dropping or lowering a bunch of different tariffs, they’re still going full force with China.
Taking advantage of the situation, Xi Jinping pushes for unity with Europe
A week ago, Xi Jinping met up with Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, and basically said it’s time for China and Europe to team up. He called out the U.S. for what he described as “unilateral bullying” and pushed for more cooperation.
Spain urges cooperation despite trade imbalance
After meeting with Xi, Sanchez had a lot to say at a press conference. He made it clear that even with trade tensions, Europe and China shouldn’t let that get in the way of working together.
China stays firm but promises no further escalation
President Xi was pretty clear during his meeting with Sanchez: “There’s no winner in a tariff war,” he said. And if the U.S. keeps going against the world, it’ll only end up isolating itself.
Beijing’s not backing down from the fight if Trump keeps pushing the economic conflict with China. But Xi also made it clear that if the U.S. hikes tariffs any more, China’s just going to ignore it.
China filed another WTO complaint over U.S. tariffs
“On 10 April, the United States issued the Executive Order, announcing a further increase of the so-called ‘reciprocal tariff’ on Chinese products,” they said.
In the statement, a spokesperson from China’s Ministry of Commerce confirmed, “China filed a WTO complaint against the United States’ latest tariff measures.”
Chinese companies pivot to domestic markets
As the trade war heats up, China’s e-commerce giant JD.com announced on Friday that it’s setting up a massive 200 billion yuan ($27.35 billion) fund to help exporters shift their focus to the domestic market over the next year.
The trade war has taken a funny turn on social media
On TikTok and the Chinese app Douyin, AI-generated videos have been circulating, showing Trump and his White House staff working in sweatshops.
One video has Trump and Vice President JD Vance stitching MAGA hats in a factory, with a Mandarin overlay that reads “Factories are being located to the United States,” followed by three laughing emojis.
