When China announced on Friday it was hiking its tariff on American imports to 125 per cent, it affected a tone that was both firm and insouciant.
Every time over the past few days that Beijing has retaliated to one of US president Donald Trump’s tariff increases, Washington has responded with a further hike, bringing the US import duty on Chinese goods to a staggering 145 per cent.
This time, China said its latest increase would be the last and it would simply ignore any further turns of the screw from Trump.
“Given that American goods are no longer marketable in China under the current tariff rates, if the US further raises tariffs on Chinese exports, China will disregard such measures,” the finance ministry said.
Tariffs are not the only retaliatory weapon in China’s arsenal and Beijing has also restricted access for US producers to some rare minerals used in the making of high-tech products. China also announced it would show fewer Hollywood films in cinemas and told Chinese citizens to think twice before visiting the US or going there to study.
Trump’s tariffs: 'The rest of the world is now going to de-risk from the United States'
Xi Jinping on Friday met Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez and the European Union confirmed that commission president Ursula von der Leyen and European Council president Antonio Costa will travel to Beijing in July for an EU-China summit. Xi is hoping to make common cause with the EU and others who have been threatened with US tariffs, although Trump has paused the reciprocal tariffs for days for everyone except China.
“China has always regarded the EU as an important pole in a multipolar world, and is one of the major countries firmly supporting the EU’s unity and growth,” Xi said.
“China and the EU should fulfil their international responsibilities, jointly safeguard the trend of economic globalisation and the international trade environment, and jointly oppose unilateral acts of bullying.”
Sanchez said he hoped the EU would use the 90-day grace period to negotiate the best possible deal from Washington, adding that China and the US should also start negotiations to de-escalate their trade war.
