China Slaps 10-15% Tariff On US Imported Goods From March 10 2025
President Trump said that 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada will start Tuesday
China on Tuesday swiftly retaliated against fresh U.S. tariffs, announcing hikes to import levies covering $21 billion worth of American agricultural and food products, moving the world’s top two economies a step closer towards an all-out trade war.
China Places Restrictions on 25 Firms
Beijing also placed twenty five U.S. firms under export and investment restrictions on national security grounds, but refrained from punishing any household names, as it did when it retaliated against the Trump administration’s February 4 tariffs.
In a press conference, China’s foreign ministry said the country has never succumbed to bullying or coercion, and that “trying to exert extreme pressure on China is a miscalculation and a mistake.”
China’s latest retaliatory measures came as the extra 10% duty which U.S. President Donald Trump threatened the world’s second-largest economy last week and it came into effect on March 4, resulting in a cumulative 20% tariff. China has accused the White House of “blackmail” over its tariff hike, saying it has some of the world’s toughest anti-drug policies.
Analysts say Beijing still hopes to negotiate a truce with the Trump administration, deliberately setting its tariff hikes below 20% to leave Chinese negotiators room to hash out a deal, but each escalation reduces the chance of a rapprochement.
Even Pay agriculture analyst at Trivium China said “China’s government is signalling that they do not want to escalate also that it’s fair to say we’re in the early days of Trade War 2.0, noting that there is still time to avoid a protracted trade war if Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are able to strike a deal”.
Mounting Pressure Since COVID
Trade tensions risk exacerbating U.S. inflation and China’s continuing efforts to mount a durable post-COVID economic recovery, which has been heavily reliant on exports.
The U.S.-China Business Council (USCBC) on Tuesday applauded Trump’s goal of addressing the illegal trade of fentanyl, but said raising tariffs on Chinese products “is not the way to achieve that goal.
Across-the-board tariffs will hurt U.S. businesses, consumers, and farmers and undermine our global competitiveness,” USCBC President Sean Stein said in a statement.
The China-U.S. trade war could benefit third countries.
The U.S. and China imposed tit-for-tat tariffs during Trump’s first term, Beijing has taken steps to reduce its reliance on American farm goods by promoting production at home and buying more from countries like Brazil. U.S. agricultural exporters could also step up efforts to replace the China market by shipping more to Southeast Asia, Africa and India.
Furthermore,Chinese tariffs on U.S. wheat and corn imports should be supportive for demand for Australian wheat and barley exports,” said Dennis Voznesenki, analyst at Commonwealth Bank in Sydney. “However, China’s recent slowdown in imports of feed grains from all origins should temper the excitement.
