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China’s government says it will “fight to the end” if the US continues to escalate the trade war, after Donald Trump threatened huge additional tariffs in response to China’s retaliatory measures.
On Tuesday, China’s commerce ministry accused the US of “blackmail” and said the US president’s threats of additional 50% tariffs if Beijing did not reverse its own 34% reciprocal tariff were a “mistake on top of a mistake”.
It vowed to “resolutely take countermeasures”, adding: “China will fight to the end if the US side is bent on going down the wrong path.”
On Tuesday Asian markets appeared to improve slightly in early trading, a day after torrid day on the global markets that prompted the billionaire investor Bill Ackman, one of the US president’s backers in the 2024 race for the White House, to call for a moratorium.
Tuesday’s response from Beijing is the latest in a worsening tit-for-tat between the two countries. Last week Trump announced a swathe of tariffs ranging from 10%-50% against US trading partners to come into effect this Wednesday. He placed a 34% tariff on imports from China – in addition to a previous 20% levy. Beijing then retaliated with a reciprocal 34% tariff on all US imports. That prompted Trump on Monday to threaten an additional 50% tariff on to Chinese imports if Beijing did not reverse theirs.
“If China does not withdraw its 34% increase above their already long term trading abuses by tomorrow, April 8th, 2025, the United States will impose additional tariffs on China of 50%, effective April 9th,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Additionally, all talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us will be terminated!”
A scathing editorial in Chinese official state news outlet Xinhua accused Trump of “naked extortion”.
“Utterly absurd is the underlying logic of the United States: ‘I can hit you at my will, and you must not respond. Instead, you must surrender unconditionally’,” it said. “This is not diplomacy. It is blunt coercion dressed up as policy.”
On social media a 1987 speech by then US president Ronald Reagan posted by China’s foreign ministry has been widely shared. The video clip, in which Reagan criticises the use of tariffs as leading to retaliation and ultimately hurting the US economy, “has a new meaning in 2025”, China’s The Paper said.
Wen-ti Sung, a non-resident fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Global China Hub said the US and China were “locked in a game of chicken”. “Like two race cars driving directly toward each other, whoever swerves first will stand to lose prestige and profit,” Sung told the Guardian.
“China seems determined to signal that the world is still bipolar, and that Beijing will not let Washington get to call the shots, lest it sets the tone for the years to come. Plus China is still waiting to get more assurance from Trump that if it accommodates Trump’s demand will it get China out of his crosshairs or whether it will only whet his appetite more.
“If not, China’s main option is to respond with proportional retaliatory trade sanctions against the US, while trying to negotiate with Washington at the same time.”
On Tuesday, Japan’s Nikkei index rose 6%, rebounding from an 18-month low on Monday, after Trump and Japanese prime minister Shigeru Ishiba agreed to open trade talks in a phone call late on Monday.
Chinese blue-chips climbed 0.7%, recouping a fraction of the more than 7% slide on Monday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index jumped 2% after suffering the worst day since 1997. US stock futures also pointed higher after a rollercoaster session in which it touched its lowest level in more than a year.
Trump’s “liberation day” tariffs targeted dozens of countries, and China is not the only one to respond. The European Commission has proposed counter-tariffs of 25% on a range of US goods, including soybeans, nuts and sausages, while saying they stood ready to negotiate a “zero for zero” deal with Trump.
EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic said at a news conference: “Sooner or later, we will sit at the negotiation table with the US and find a mutually acceptable compromise.”
The 27-member EU, which had already been hit with tariffs on vehicles and metals, faces another 20% on other items from Wednesday. Trump has also threatened to impose tariffs on alcoholic drinks from the bloc.
Taiwan, which faces a 32% reciprocal tariff and saw its worst ever market fall on Monday, has said it is ready to negotiate “at any time”, with president Lai Ching-te proposing a zero-tariffs agreement, removal of trade barriers, and increased investment in the US.
Taiwan has repeatedly said its large trade surplus with the US is due to the US’s soaring demand for tech, given its companies are major suppliers to companies such as Apple and Nvidia.
