China has vowed to “fight to the end” after president Donald Trump threatened Beijing with a further 50 per cent import tariff, escalating a brewing trade war between the world’s largest economies.
Mr Trump had threatened to bring his grand total of tariffs on Chinese imports to over 100 per cent if Beijing went ahead and matched the 34 per cent levy on imports that he announced last week.
The 34 per cent tariff was in addition to the 20 per cent levy imposed earlier in 2025, taking the effective rate to 54 per cent. After Beijing hit back with a 34 per cent tariff on American goods, Mr Trump threatened an additional 50 per cent duty if the Asian giant did not reverse its decision.
China appeared defiant, however, saying that Mr Trump's threat was "a mistake on top of a mistake" and accusing him of "blackmailing" Beijing into rolling back its countermeasures. "If the US insists on having its way, China will fight to the end," the Chinese commerce ministry said.
China’s benchmark stock index rebounded in early trade on Tuesday, clawing back some of the 7 per cent loss from Monday. Beijing let the yuan fall to its weakest level in over 18 months after the central bank slightly loosened its grip on the currency in an attempt to counteract the blow to exports.
Several Chinese state companies, meanwhile, vowed to increase investment while some listed companies announced share buybacks as the government stepped in to stabilise the market.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said the world's second-largest economy was not intimidated by US threats.
“Pressuring and threatening are not the right way in dealing with China," Mr Lin said, adding that "China will take necessary measures to firmly safeguard its own legitimate rights and interests".
His country would continue to take "resolute and strong measures to safeguard our legitimate rights and interests", Mr Lin added, without elaborating on the planned course of action.
Mr Trump’s sweeping near-worldwide tariffs, including on some uninhabited islands, have wiped trillions of dollars in value from global stock markets and sparked fears of a catastrophic trade war and global recession.
“Whether or not the menu of tariffs causes a recession remains in question,” Jamie Dimon, CEO of banking giant JPMorgan Chase, said in his annual letter to shareholders, “but it will slow down growth.”
Mr Trump, who has seemed unfazed by the tumbling markets, warned that "all talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us will be terminated!"
He claimed that China had introduced its countermeasure “despite my warning that any country that retaliates against the US by issuing additional tariffs... will be immediately met with new and substantially higher tariffs”.
The president said he was not considering a pause on the rollout of his steep “custom” tariffs, which come into effect on Wednesday, to allow space for negotiations.
"We're not looking at that. We have many, many countries that are coming to negotiate deals with us and there are going to be fair deals," he said.
Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece Global Times criticised the “selfish” and “utterly unfounded” levies while saying "pressuring and threatening are not the right way in dealing with China".
“In reality, this is nothing more than protectionism and unilateral bullying," the newspaper said in an editorial, calling it “political blackmail wrapped in the cloak of economic means”.
“China's countermeasures are not a call to confrontation, but a declaration to defend fairness," it added, acknowledging the tariffs would inevitably impact the Chinese economy "in the short term".
Dan Wang, a China expert at the Eurasia Group, told Reuters that Mr Trump had effectively wiped out Chinese exporter profits by taking the import duties over 35 per cent.
"After that, China shouldn't export to the US at all. It could be 1,000 per cent, but since there is no trade there is no harm. Europe is and will be the most profitable market for China now," she said.
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