China responded to President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs on Friday by announcing a 34% tariff on all goods imported from the United States.
The move comes after Trump unveiled a host of tariffs against countries all over the world, including a 34% tariff on China, where about 16% of goods imported into America come from. Trump has said the tariffs are necessary to rebuild American industry and rectify longstanding trade imbalances.
In a statement on Friday, the Chinese Ministry of Finance accused the United States of violating international trade rules with the tariffs.
“The U.S. practice is inconsistent with international trade rules, seriously undermines China’s legitimate rights and interests, and is a typical unilateral bullying practice that not only undermines the interests of the United States itself, but also endangers global economic development and the stability of the production and supply chain,” the ministry said, according to a translation.
China’s tariff on all “goods originating from” America will go into effect on April 10.
“China urges the United States to immediately cancel its unilateral tariff measures and resolve trade differences through consultation in an equal, respectful and mutually beneficial manner,” the ministry added.
In another action targeting the United States, China put export controls on seven different types of rare earth minerals, placed 11 American companies on its “unreliable entities list,” and added export restrictions on 16 more American companies, CNBC reported.
Like Thursday, stocks again tumbled on Friday after China announced its retaliatory tariff, with the Dow Jones falling 1,679 points and the S&P 500 falling 274 points.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Thursday that Americans worried about the economy should “trust President Trump.”
“This is a president who is doubling down on his proven economic formula from his first term. We saw wages increase. We saw inflation come down,” she said. “We had a Trump energy boom. We had the largest tax cuts in history, and that’s exactly what the president intends to do.”
Trump argues that foreign nations have been “ripping off the United States for the last 40 years and more,” imposing harsh tariffs on U.S. exports while gaining free access to the American market.
“My fellow Americans, this is Liberation Day,” Trump said on Wednesday. “April 2, 2025 will forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn, the day America’s destiny was reclaimed, and the day that we began to make America wealthy again.”
