Headline Roundup • April 8th, 2025
China Places 84% Tariff on US Goods Amid Escalating Trade War
Summary from the AllSides News Team
In response to President Donald Trump's tariff increase on Chinese imports, China has announced new retaliatory tariffs on American goods, set at 84%.
The Details: On Wednesday, President Trump raised duties on nearly all Chinese imports to 104%. China's 84% tariff on U.S. goods, which began on Thursday, is part of a series of measures amid an escalating trade war between the two countries. Beijing has also imposed export controls on 12 U.S. companies and added six U.S. firms to its "unreliable entity list," banning them from trading or investing in China.
Key Quote: "The US escalation of tariffs on China is a mistake on top of a mistake, severely infringing upon China’s legitimate rights and interests, and seriously damaging the multilateral trading system based on rules," said China’s State Council Tariff Commission said in a statement released on Wednesday
For Context: The trade disputes began over two months ago when Trump imposed 10% tariffs on China to encourage Beijing to take more aggressive action to end the fentanyl crisis on America's borders. Since then, the tariff rate has risen, with the White House announcing an increase from 34% to 84% on Wednesday.
How The Media Covered It: Coverage of the escalating trade war varied among outlets. The Washington Examiner (Lean Right bias) highlighted the Trump administration's position that the tariffs would incentivize China to address the fentanyl crisis. It quoted Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent arguing that the escalation was bad for China, given their significant trade surplus. The Associated Press (Left bias) focused on China's standpoint, stating that China has vowed to "fight to the end," and noted China's argument that the economic exchange between the two countries is "roughly in balance," considering trade in services and U.S. companies' domestic Chinese branches.
Revised by the AllSides staff (of humans) after a first draft from our custom AI. Learn more. Suggest an improvement to this summary.
Featured Coverage of this Story
AP Photo/Evan Vucci
China announced an 84% tariff against the United States after President Donald Trump raised tariffs against Beijing to 104% on Wednesday.
“The U.S. escalation of tariffs on China is a mistake on top of a mistake, severely infringing upon China’s legitimate rights and interests, and seriously damaging the multilateral trading system based on rules,” China’s State Council Tariff Commission said in a statement announcing the latest levy, which brings China’s total tariffs on all U.S. imports up to 118%.
China’s Commerce Ministry also imposed export controls on a dozen U.S. companies and added six U.S. firms to its “unreliable...
Global markets are reeling as the U.S. and China escalate their trade war with a fresh wave of tariffs. President Donald Trump's latest round—raising duties on nearly all Chinese imports above 100%—took effect just after midnight. China's retaliatory 85% tariffs on U.S. goods caps off a week of tit-for-tat moves that have now seen each country impose two rounds of steep tariffs on the other. The European Union is also preparing to strike back with its own countermeasures.
President Trump, however, remains resolute in his stance. On his Truth Social...
China again vowed to “fight to the end” Wednesday in an escalating trade war with the U.S. as it announced it would raise tariffs on American goods to 84% from Thursday.
Beijing also added an array of countermeasures after U.S. President Donald Trump raised the total tariff on imports from China to 104%. Beijing said it was launching an additional suit against the U.S. at the World Trade Organization and placed further restrictions on American companies’ trade with Chinese companies.
“If the U.S. insists on further escalating its economic and...
AllSides Picks
.jpg)
.png)
