Trump Escalates Trade War With China, Threatens 50% Tariff On Chinese Goods, Warns Of Terminating Talks

US President Trump threatened to impose a 50% tariff on Chinese imports if China does not withdraw retaliatory tariffs. This follows China's announcement of a 34% tariff on US goods.

US President Donald Trump on Sunday warned of imposing an additional 50 per cent tariff on Chinese imports from April 9, if Beijing does not roll back its retaliatory tariff plans. His remarks, posted on his social media platform Truth Social, come amid heightened trade tensions between the two countries.

In a strongly worded post, Trump wrote, “Yesterday, China issued Retaliatory Tariffs of 34%, on top of their already record setting Tariffs, Non-Monetary Tariffs, Illegal Subsidization of companies, and massive long term Currency Manipulation, despite my warning that any country that Retaliates against the U.S. by issuing additional Tariffs, above and beyond their already existing long term Tariff abuse of our Nation, will be immediately met with new and substantially higher Tariffs, over and above those initially set.”

He added, “Therefore, 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. Additionally, all talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us will be terminated! Negotiations with other countries, which have also requested meetings, will begin taking place immediately. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

The warning follows Beijing’s prior announcement that it would impose a 34 per cent reciprocal tariff on all imports from the US beginning April 10. This came in response to Trump’s earlier move to slap a 34 per cent tariff on Chinese goods, a decision widely seen as exacerbating the ongoing trade dispute.

China’s State Council Tariff Commission, in a statement quoted by CNN, said, “This practice of the US is not in line with international trade rules, seriously undermines China’s legitimate rights and interests, and is a typical unilateral bullying practice.”

Trump Says China Changed TikTok Deal Because Of Tariffs

Trump also addressed the status of the TikTok deal, stating that his administration was close to an agreement to keep the app operational in the US. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, he said, “The report is that we had a deal, pretty much for Tiktok, not a deal, but pretty close, and then China changed the deal because of tariffs. If I gave a little cut in tariffs, they’d approve that deal in 15 minutes, which shows you the power of tariffs”, news agency ANI reported.

Earlier, Trump announced that he would sign an executive order extending TikTok’s operational deadline by 75 days. Sharing the update on Truth Social, he wrote, “My administration has been working very hard on a deal to SAVE TIKTOK, and we have made tremendous progress. The deal requires more work to ensure all necessary approvals are signed, which is why I am signing an Executive Order to keep TikTok up and running for an additional 75 days.”

Trump said he hoped discussions with China would continue “in good faith”, despite their dissatisfaction with the US tariffs. “We hope to continue working in good faith with China, who I understand are not very happy about our reciprocal tariffs (Necessary for fair and balanced trade between China and the USA!). This proves that tariffs are the most powerful economic tool and very important to our national security! We do not want TikTok to ‘go dark.’ We look forward to working with TikTok and China to close the deal. Thank you for your attention to this matter,” he added.

Trump’s statement came just a day before the ban on TikTok was scheduled to come into effect. The original deadline had been postponed by 75 days when Trump took office in January. The app’s parent company ByteDance confirmed that discussions with the US government were ongoing. 

CNN also reported that since assuming office in January, Trump has imposed two separate 10 per cent tariffs on all Chinese imports, a move the White House claims is necessary to curb the inflow of illicit fentanyl from China. With the new tariffs, the total levy on Chinese imports could surpass 54 per cent.

In a prior reaction to China’s retaliatory tariffs, Trump declared, “CHINA PLAYED IT WRONG, THEY PANICKED – THE ONE THING THEY CANNOT AFFORD TO DO.”

China’s countermeasures included placing 11 American firms, including drone manufacturers, on its “unreliable entity list”, implementing export controls on 16 US firms, and launching an anti-dumping investigation into imported medical CT X-ray tubes from the US. Additionally, China has restricted exports of seven types of rare-earth minerals—such as samarium, gadolinium, and terbium—to the United States.