China pledges resolute measures to hit back at Trump tariffs

Bloomberg News on Apr 5, 2025

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China pledged decisive action to defend its economy, a day after unveiling levies on American goods and export controls on rare earths in response to Donald Trump’s tariffs.

Beijing will continue to take “resolute measures” to safeguard its sovereignty, security and other interests, the state-owned Xinhua News Agency reported on Saturday.

On Friday, President Xi Jinping’s government announced it will impose a 34% tariff on all imports from the U.S. starting April 10, matching the level of Trump’s so-called reciprocal tariffs on Chinese products. Authorities in Beijing announced several other measures, including immediately restricting exports of seven types of rare earths.

China’s measures followed Trump’s move to boost tariffs on global trade partners by introducing the steepest American duties in a century, dealing a blow to global markets. The U.S. tariffs announced this week will raise levies on nearly all Chinese products to at least 54%, potentially crippling the country’s exports to the U.S.

Tensions between the world’s biggest economies have worsened since Trump’s return to the White House. The U.S. president has yet to speak with his Chinese counterpart more than two months after his inauguration. The countries are locked in a stalemate over China’s alleged role in the flow of fentanyl into America, which Trump cited as a rationale for the previous two rounds of tariffs.

Global equities extended their slump on Friday, with shares of companies including DuPont de Nemours Inc. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. suffering some of the steepest declines. Stock markets in China and Hong Kong were closed on Friday for a holiday.

Despite the market turmoil, neither country is showing signs of backing down. On Saturday, the U.S. president posted on his Truth Social site that China “has been hit much harder than the USA, not even close.”

“THIS IS AN ECONOMIC REVOLUTION, AND WE WILL WIN,” Trump wrote. “HANG TOUGH, it won’t be easy, but the end result will be historic.”