China announced it would impose a 15 percent tariff on U.S. imports of coal and liquefied natural gas, as retaliation for the 10 percent tariffs the U.S. had placed on Chinese goods.
Additionally, China’s Ministry of Finance revealed on Tuesday that 10 percent tariffs would also be applied to U.S. imports including crude oil, agricultural machinery, large-displacement vehicles, and pickup trucks.
These new measures were in response to what China called the “unilateral tariff hike” by the U.S., stating that Washington’s actions “seriously violate World Trade Organization rules, fail to resolve its own issues, and disrupt normal economic and trade relations between China and the U.S.”
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The tariffs, which will take effect next Monday, were announced shortly after President Trump indicated he would have a call with President Xi Jinping within the next 24 hours.
On Saturday, U.S. President Donald Trump introduced sweeping tariffs on major trade partners, including Canada and Mexico, with China facing an additional 10 percent tariff on top of existing duties.
Trump stated that the tariffs were aimed at punishing countries for not halting the flow of undocumented migrants and drugs like fentanyl into the U.S.
However, on Monday, Trump suspended his tariff threat against Mexico and Canada, agreeing to a 30-day pause in exchange for concessions on border security and crime enforcement.
During his first term in 2018, Trump launched a lengthy trade war with China over its large trade surplus with the U.S., with both sides imposing tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of goods, disrupting global supply chains and hurting the global economy.
In 2020, China agreed to purchase an additional $200 billion in U.S. goods to end the trade war, but the agreement was derailed by the COVID pandemic, and China’s trade deficit widened to $361 billion, according to recent Chinese customs data.
Trump warned he might further increase tariffs on China unless it took action to stop the flow of fentanyl into the U.S. China has called fentanyl America’s issue, asserting it would challenge the tariffs at the World Trade Organization and consider other countermeasures, though it left the door open for further negotiations.
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