China hits back, hikes tariffs on US goods to 125% effective from April 12

On April 11, during a meeting with Spain's Prime Minister, Xi Jinping urged European Union to join hands with Beijing in resisting "unilateral bullying"

In a move that is set to further escalate global uncertainty, China has decided to retaliate with additional tariffs on US goods from April 12, taking the total effective rate to 125 percent.

This comes a day after US President Donald Trump announced a total of 145 percent duty on Chinese goods, while providing a 90-day relief from tariffs to most other economies.

“Given that American goods are no longer marketable in China under the current tariff rates, if the US further raises tariffs on Chinese exports, China will disregard such measures,” according to the statement.

The hike comes after the White House kept the pressure on the world's No.2 economy and second-biggest provider of US imports by singling it out for an additional tariff increase, having paused most of the "reciprocal" duties imposed on dozens of other countries.

"The U.S. imposition of abnormally high tariffs on China seriously violates international and economic trade rules, basic economic laws and common sense and is completely unilateral bullying and coercion," China's Finance Ministry said in a statement.

On April 11, during a meeting with Spain's Prime Minister, Xi Jinping urged European Union to join hands with Beijing in resisting "unilateral bullying".

S&P 500 futures fell further after China’s announcement, and futures on the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index pared gains. The dollar also extended declines, pushing Bloomberg’s index of the US currency to a more than 1% decline on the day.

In a statement following China’s retaliatory move, the Commerce Ministry said Washington’s repeated use of excessively high tariffs has become little more than a numbers game — economically meaningless and revealing its use of tariffs as a tool for bullying and coercion. “It’s become a joke,” the ministry said.

However, China warned that it will “resolutely counterattack and fight to the end” if the US continues to infringe on its rights and interests. It also said America should take full responsibility for the damage caused by the tariffs.

Tensions between Beijing and Washington have spiraled beyond tit-for-tat tariff exchanges in recent days to impact services and people’s ties. Authorities on Thursday moved to cut the number of American films allowed in Chinese theaters, suggesting broader retaliation beyond goods may be underway.