China officially commenced the implementation of its planned retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods on Thursday, imposing an additional 84 per cent duty on imports from the U.S.
The move came after Washington escalated its trade pressure, with U.S. President Donald Trump announcing on Wednesday a new plan to raise tariffs on Chinese imports even further to 125 per cent.
Chinese officials have however rejected the U.S. approach, accusing Washington of blackmail and pledging to resist pressure in the ongoing trade dispute.
As tensions rise with the U.S, China is reaching out to other partners.
On Tuesday, Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao had a phone call with EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič to discuss issues including enhancing China-EU economic ties.
According to a Chinese statement, Wang criticised the U.S. tariff strategy as harmful to global trade and urged cooperation to uphold the rules-based multilateral system.
It added that China and the EU agreed to start talks on market access and improving the business environment for companies.
China has remained one of the EU’s most important trading partners.
In 2024, it was the bloc’s third-largest export destination and its top source of imports.
However, the EU continued to run a significant trade deficit with China, which last year stood at around 300 billion euros (329 billion dollars).
Meanwhile, tariffs for some other countries have been temporarily suspended.
So far, Beijing has not responded to the latest U.S. measures.
