On the third day of a three-day decline in global markets, Donald Trump has issued a threat to impose an additional 50% tariff on commodities imported into the United States if China fails to withdraw a countermeasure.
During his Monday speech at the White House, the United States president stated that he was not contemplating a temporary suspension of new tariffs to facilitate negotiations with other nations.
“We are not considering that.” He stated, “We have a significant number of countries that are interested in negotiating deals with us, and the deals will be fair.”
Trump reiterated his threat to impose 50% tariffs on Chinese commodities if Beijing fails to abandon its counter-tariff plans by Tuesday. A 104% tax could be imposed on US companies that import specific products from China.
In a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump stated that he would impose an additional tariff unless China ceases to enforce its own 34% counter-tariff on American products, which it announced on Friday.
Trump announced on Wednesday that he would impose a 34% tax on Chinese imports as part of his “Liberation Day” initiative, which also included a minimum 10% levy on virtually all of America’s trading partners.
In the event that he does impose that, US companies would be subject to a total rate of 104% on Chinese imports. This is in addition to the 20% tariffs that were already in place in March and the 34% tariff that was announced last week.
Trump stated that China had implemented its countermeasure “despite my warning that any country that retaliates against the U.S. by issuing additional tariffs… will be immediately met with new and substantially higher tariffs.”
Beijing responded by asserting that “pressuring or threatening China is not an appropriate method of engagement.”
“The U.S. hegemonic move in the name of’reciprocity’ serves its selfish interests at the expense of other countries’ legitimate interests and prioritises ‘America first’ over international rules,” stated Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy.
“This is a typical example of economic bullying, protectionism, and unilateralism.”
The United States president, who was speaking from the White House, indicated that negotiations and enduring tariffs could be implemented.
“We have a $36 trillion debt for a reason,” he stated, adding that the United States would be engaging in negotiations with China and other nations to achieve a “fair and beneficial agreement.”
The president of the United States declared, “America is now the priority.”
Fears of a global trade war have been exacerbated by the escalating tension between the United States and China. The tariffs would be a significant setback for China’s manufacturers, as the United States is a critical export market for them.
The global stock markets experienced a turbulent day as a result of the uncertainty surrounding the tariffs.
The recent announcement by President Trump of additional tariffs on imports from nearly all economies has resulted in a global market decline.
The value of US stock markets dropped sharply again on opening, while Europe’s biggest markets, including London’s FTSE 100, have all closed more than 4% down.
Asian share indexes experienced a significant decline, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index experiencing its largest one-day decline since 1997, with a decline of over 13%.
The FTSE 100, the S&P 500 in the United States, the Dax in Germany, and the Nikkei in Japan have all been significantly affected.
Discussions
Additionally, Trump’s post suggested that negotiations regarding tariff rates would commence immediately.
On Monday, President Trump hosted Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, at the White House. Netanyahu said that his country would eliminate the trade imbalance with the US, which he said was the “right thing to do”.
“We intend to do it very quickly… and we’re going to also eliminate trade barriers.”
Israel faces a 17% tariff from April 9 under Trump’s “Liberation Day” policy.
The US president also posted earlier that Japan was sending a negotiation team to discuss tariffs.
And Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, offered Trump a “zero-for-zero tariff” deal – although she previously said that she had not ruled out retaliation.
“We are also prepared to respond through countermeasures and defend our interests,” she said.
Trump said later that the EU had been formed “to really do damage to the United States and trade”.
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