China Fires Back With 125% Tariff On US Goods, Says It Will Ignore Further American Duties

China on Friday announced that it was raising its tariffs on the imports of American goods to 125% from 84% in response to the United States' most recent increase in levies on Chinese goods.

"The excessively high tariffs imposed by the U.S. on China are a serious violation of international economic and trade rules, basic economic laws, and common sense, and are completely unilateral bullying and coercion," China's Ministry of Finance said, according to a translated version of its statement.

The move is the latest escalation in an intense trade war between the two nations.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs on all major countries on April 2, then paused those duties for 90 days, except for Chinese goods, this week.

In tit-for-tat moves, both nations have raised their duties in the past 10 days, and additional U.S. duties on Chinese goods now stand at 145%. Trump's tariffs and erratic policy shifts, suggesting possible reversals after negotiations, have rattled global markets.

"Given that there is no longer any possibility of market acceptance for US goods exported to China under the current tariff levels, if the U.S. side continues to impose tariffs on Chinese goods exported to the United States in the future, the Chinese side will ignore them," China's Finance Ministry's statement read.

China's new tariff rate will go into effect on Saturday.

Major U.S. market futures indicated a lower open on Friday. The Dow futures were down 0.24%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 Futures were down about 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively, as of 4:20 am ET.

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