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| China raises tariffs on US goods to 125% as it slams Trump for 'defying basic economic laws and common sense' | |
| 2025-04-12 | |
| "We have all this cheap crap stuck in ports and ships. Buy now!" [Daily Mail, where America gets its news] China will raise its tariffs against the U.S. to 125% from Saturday in the latest escalation in the burgeoning trade war, the finance ministry announced today. The new duties are a significant climb from the 84% announced on Wednesday, rising to meet the current U.S. tariffs imposed on Chinese goods. Beijing said that the U.S. tariffs against China defy 'basic economic laws and common sense' after Donald Trump raised the rate on Chinese imports to 125%. A statement from the finance ministry said the imposition of 'abnormally high tariffs' amounted to 'unilateral bullying and coercion'. China's tariff hike only moves in line with Trump's latest raft of duties; Washington said yesterday the 125% announced Wednesday compounded an existing 20%. Beijing did say that it would not respond to any more tariffs imposed by the U.S. The Trump administration has kept up the pressure on China despite climbing down from high, and varied, duties on dozens of other trading partners this week. While the EU now faces a baseline 10% rate pending 90 days for negotiations, leaders are still contemplating countermeasures should talks falter. Meeting with Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez on Friday, Xi Jinping urged cooperation with China to resist what he called 'unilateral bullying' from the U.S. The three-month reprieve on hefty tariffs against 57 countries followed 'pressure from China', Beijing said in a show of goodwill. 'China and Europe should fulfil their international responsibilities... and jointly resist unilateral bullying practices,' Xi said on Friday, state news agency Xinhua reported. This, he stressed, would not only 'safeguard their own legitimate rights and interests, but also... safeguard international fairness and justice.' Sanchez, in turn, told a press conference following his meeting with Xi that tensions over trade should not impede cooperation between the European Union and China. Spain buys about 45 billion euros ($49.1 billion) of goods every year from China, its fourth-largest trading partner, but sells around 7.4 billion euros' worth. 'Both Spain and Europe have a significant trade deficit with China that we must work to rectify,' he admitted. But, he said, 'we must not let trade tensions stand in the way of the potential growth of the relationship between China and Spain and between China and the EU'. Sanchez broke with the rest of the European Union on his last trip to China in September 2024, urging the bloc to reconsider plans to impose high tariffs on Chinese electric cars and calling for a 'fair trade order'. China has found itself largely isolated in Trump's trade war, heavily penalised with tariffs as the new administration looks to encourage domestic manufacturing. There is no winner in a tariff war, and going against the world will only push the U.S. into self-isolation, President Xi said during his meeting with Sanchez. Beijing has vowed not to shy away from the fight should Trump insist upon his economic conflict with China. But Xi did say any further tariff hikes from the U.S. would be 'ignored' by China. 'Even if the U.S. continues to impose higher tariffs, it will no longer make economic sense and will become a joke in the history of world economy,' he said, per CNBC. China's mission to the World Trade Organization did, however, say today that it had filed an additional complaint to the trade body over U.S. tariffs. 'On 10 April, the United States issued the Executive Order, announcing a further increase of the so-called 'reciprocal tariff' on Chinese products. 'China filed a WTO complaint against United States' latest tariff measures,' the statement from China's mission said, citing a ministry of commerce spokesperson. With tensions mounting, Elon Musk's Tesla suspended new orders on its Model S and Model X electric cars in China. Musk has tried to maintain cordial ties with Beijing. China represents a huge market for the car manufacturer and extracts precious metals used in its batteries. In Shanxi, China, jewelry stores raised large red banners announcing that American customers would face 104 per cent 'service fees' in store. The Zhangji BBQ Beef Offal Restaurant in Wuhan lifted similar banners, local media reports. Meanwhile, China's e-commerce giant JD.com said on Friday it would launch a 200 billion yuan ($27.35 billion) fund to help the country's exporters sell their products domestically over the next year, as a U.S.-China trade war intensifies. JD.com said in a statement that it would send its employees to Chinese companies involved in foreign trade, directly purchase their 'high-quality products' and set up a special area on its e-commerce platform to sell these products and direct traffic and marketing support to this area. Separately on Friday, supermarket chain Freshippo, owned by JD.com rival Alibaba and known as Hema in Chinese, said it had opened a fast-track path for export companies to explore the domestic market. The support programmes for Chinese exporters could help them re-coup some of their losses stemming from reduced sales overseas by quickly starting or increasing domestic sales, although they will face intense competition in a slowing economy. Like JD.com, Freshippo will set up a special zone on its platform where only products from these companies will be sold. It said it will also make it easier for exporters to get on its platform by simplifying registration procedures and would allow these exporters to make use of the company's warehouse network. In a twist on the trade war, social media users have relished in content poking fun at the Trump administration and its radical tariff regime. A trend has emerged of AI-generated videos circulated on TikTok and Chinese app Douyin depicting Trump and his White House staffers working in sweatshops. One video showed Trump and his Vice President, JD Vance, stitching MAGA hats in a factory. 'Factories are being located to the United States,' read the overlay in Mandarin, next to three laughing emojis. Another video circulating this week showed Trump, Elon Musk and JD Vance working on a production line making trainers. Concerns mount that should the economic stand-off with China continue, consumer goods like the Nike shoes featured in the viral video could skyrocket in price. At the moment, 62 per cent of the shoes sold in the United States are imported from China, with other nations like Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia and India providing the rest. Just one per cent of shoes are produced domestically. China is a key trading partner with a large manufacturing industry, producing huge quantities of inexpensive goods for American consumers.
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| Posted by:Skidmark |
| #5 Hahahahaha!!! Fuck you West Taiwan |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2025-04-12 20:44 |
| #4 'defying basic economic laws and common sense' Pretty much defines Marxism. Irony unbound considering the source. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2025-04-12 16:45 |
| #3 "OK team, nice quarter work with keeping the stock, logistics, and maintenance work on our Washer and Dryer Line. This weekend will be a reconfigure, so Roblox Team is on call this weekend. Monday we will be producing Basic Call Vehicle Cargo Transports, adjust and prepare Observation and Logistics Supply for one thousand units ICU and two hundred EV, at this time until fulfilled or extended order. As said, Roblox Team you are on duty, so no party favors, keep you monitoring devices on-hand and notifications on until Inspection Go." |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2025-04-12 14:47 |
| #2 As a side data point, a month ago a sales rep told me to stock up because price increases on goods are going up because tariffs. I thought to myself, how are your price increases this time of year every year for the past all years different, because it sounds like a blame shift? Also, was talking to someone who is very dependent currently on products from Chyna, and that person said all those prices have already been bumped because tariffs. "So if this all falls through, do they adjust the prices down?" I asked. "Actually I asked that, and didn't get a firm answer. Uh huh." was the reply. Uh huh. So I have a question, or at least a posit, because if it were me it would be my play: Considering a noticeable throttling down of imports from Chyna, and a lack of qualified and motivated manufacturing age workers in the USA, and importing shitty workers who can't even drive or educated in the Metric System: Is that push for a domestic AI initiative to create an indigenous automated modular manufacturing system which can self Lego its configuration to produce flower baskets one cycle and reconfigure into a show producer next cycle, such as how in games like Command and Conquer or Empire At War, a light, medium, or heavy factory which can produce some 5 different items from the same factory? |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2025-04-12 14:30 |
| #1 Canada willing to drop tariffs first if US does the same: Ontario Premier Doug Ford That matters more to them than it does to US. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2025-04-12 08:28 |