China hikes tariffs to 84% amid escalating trade tensions

China decided to raise retaliatory tariffs on American imports from 34 to 84 percent in response to the U.S. administration's increase of tariffs on Chinese products to 84 percent, resulting in a total rate for China of 104 percent.

"I think it’s unfortunate that the Chinese actually don’t want to come and negotiate, because they are the worst offenders in the international trading system," commented Scott Bessent in an interview with Fox Business Network.

He reiterated that the U.S. should work to reduce its trade deficit with China. "The US is trying to rebalance toward more manufacturing. China needs to rebalance towards more consumption," he emphasized.

Bessent warned Beijing against attempts to devalue the yuan in response to U.S. tariffs. "If China starts devaluing, then that is a tax on the rest of the world and everyone will have to keep raising their tariffs to offset the devaluation. So I would urge them not to do that and to come to the table," Bessent said.

The 84-percent Chinese tariffs are set to take effect on April 10. "The U.S. indiscriminately applies tariffs, seriously infringing on the legitimate rights of various countries, severely violating World Trade Organization rules, and seriously undermining the multilateral trade system based on rules," stated the Chinese Ministry of Finance in a Wednesday statement.

Meanwhile, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce issued three separate communications. The ministry announced plans to file a lawsuit against the United States under the dispute resolution mechanism of the International Trade Organization in connection with the tariff increase. The ministry also reported that six American firms were added to a list of unreliable entities due to their involvement in weapons sales to Taiwan and military-technical cooperation with Taipei. The sanctions include, among others, American aerospace corporation Sierra Nevada Corporation and Cyberlux Corporation—one of the suppliers of military equipment and systems.

Additionally, the ministry placed 12 U.S. entities on the export control list, placing restrictions on the export of dual-use products to them. The ministry named American Photonics, Novotech Inc., and Marvin Engineering Company Inc. The ministry's statement reads that these entities behave in a way that may threaten the national security and interests of China.

It should be noted that on Wednesday, increased tariff rates on goods from countries with which the United States has a trade deficit came into effect. Among them is a 20-percent tariff on products from the EU. The tariffs—described as "reciprocal" by President Donald Trump—are theoretically meant to establish equal conditions in foreign trade but do not practically reflect the trade barriers used by other countries or the size of their trade surplus with the USA. Consequently, countries with high tariffs, like Brazil, received lower rates compared to those with low tariffs on USA products, like the EU.

High rates particularly burdened Asian countries, both allies of America like Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), and Taiwan (32 percent), as well as countries that provide low-cost production in competition with China, like India (26 percent), Vietnam (46 percent), Bangladesh (37 percent), Indonesia (32 percent), and Cambodia (49 percent).

On Monday, the White House announced that President Trump directed his advisors to engage in separate trade talks with each of the 70 countries that requested the start of negotiations, giving priority to U.S. allies and partners like Japan and South Korea. Nonetheless, on Tuesday, Trump stated that he doesn't necessarily want to conclude these agreements and mocked countries desperately trying to have tariffs lifted. The White House also rejected the offer from Vietnam and the European Union for mutual elimination of tariffs to zero (in the case of the EU, this concerns industrial goods, including cars).