Trump Threatens Additional 50% Tariffs on China Amid Escalating Trade War

By Staff, Agencies

US President Donald Trump has intensified the ongoing trade war with China by threatening to impose an additional 50% tariff on Chinese imports unless Beijing withdraws its retaliatory tariffs against Washington.

In a Monday post on his Truth Social platform, Trump warned that failure by China to reverse its newly announced 34% tariff on American goods would prompt the US to retaliate further starting April 9, 2025.

The president’s message came in response to what he described as Beijing’s “long-term trading abuses” and disregard for his earlier warning that retaliatory actions would result in even steeper US tariffs.

Last week, the White House had already declared a 34% tariff on Chinese imports, triggering a mirror response from Beijing. Trump now threatens to layer an additional 50% tariff if China does not reverse course.

“Negotiations with China will be terminated if they don’t back down,” Trump declared, adding that the US would begin talks with other trade partners instead.

China responded firmly to the threat. Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington, reiterated that Beijing would not yield to intimidation.

“We have stressed more than once that pressuring or threatening China is not a right way to engage with us,” he said, pledging that China would defend its “legitimate rights and interests.”

According to a senior White House official cited by ABC News, the proposed 50% increase would come on top of both the 34% tariff announced last week and an existing 20% levy on Chinese goods.

Beijing has criticized the US tariff policy, saying it undermines global supply chain stability and hampers international economic recovery.

The financial fallout is already being felt. Wall Street saw its sharpest single-day decline in years on Thursday, while JP Morgan raised the likelihood of a global recession by year’s end to 60%, up from 40%.

Market analysts fear the intensifying tariff exchange will rattle investor confidence and deal a significant blow to global trade flows.