The US President, Donald Trump, imposed new tariffs of 54% on China this year. In retaliation, Beijing announced 34% tariffs on US products last week. This week, Trump announced that he would impose an additional 50% tariff on China if it did not withdraw its retaliatory tariffs.
On Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated during an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that the US holds a significant advantage over China.
“I think it was a big mistake, this Chinese escalation, because they’re playing with a pair of twos. What do we lose by the Chinese raising tariffs on us? We export one-fifth to them of what they export to us, so that is a losing hand for them.”
The Commerce Ministry of China issued the following statement.
“The US threat to escalate tariffs on China is a mistake on top of a mistake. China will never accept it. If the US insists on its own way, China will fight to the end.”