The day after the White House confirmed that U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods were, indeed, set at 145%, President Donald Trump told reporters on April 10 that he was looking forward to working out a deal with China that would be good for both countries. “We’ll see what happens with China. We would love to be able to work a deal…. I’m sure that we’ll be able to get along very well. I have great respect for [Chinese] President Xi [Jinping]. He’s been a friend of mine for a long period of time, and I think that we’ll end up working out something that’s very good for both countries,” Trump said.
China quickly made clear that nice talk is not enough, announcing that as of April 12, U.S. imports into China will face a 125% tariff. That’s it on hikes from China’s side, its Customs Tariff Commission announced, given that “it’s already impossible for the Chinese market to accept U.S. imports at the current tariff level”; any further hikes “would ultimately go down as a joke in world economic history.” It warned, however, that should the United States persist in undermining China’s interests, “China will take firm countermeasures and fight to the end.”
Commerce Ministry spokeswoman He Yongqian reiterated China’s policy on April 10: “Pressure, threats and blackmail are not the right way to deal with China. We hope that the two countries will meet each other halfway and work towards resolving differences through dialogue and consultation, guided by the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation.”
