China played it wrong, they panicked: Trump slams additional 34% tariff on US goods

US President Donald Trump on Friday accused China of overreacting after Beijing announced an additional 34 per cent tariff on all American goods, escalating a trade standoff between the world’s two largest economies. The Chinese tariffs will take effect on April 10.

“China played it wrong, they panicked – the one thing they cannot afford to do,” Trump said, responding to Beijing’s decision, which came just days after he imposed a similar 34 per cent tariff on Chinese imports as part of his “Liberation Day” agenda.

The Chinese Ministry of Finance said the new tariffs are a direct response to the measures introduced by Washington. Earlier this week, Trump’s administration raised import duties on Chinese goods, adding to existing levies that had already affected billions of dollars in trade.

On Wednesday, Trump slapped an additional 34 per cent tariff on Chinese goods, on top of the 20 per cent levy introduced earlier this year. This raises the combined new tariffs on imports from China to 54 per cent — nearing the 60 per cent figure he had proposed during his campaign for the presidency.

Under the new US tariff structure, Chinese exporters-along with those from other economies-will be subject to a baseline tariff of 10 per cent on almost all goods shipped to the US starting Saturday. The remaining higher “reciprocal tariffs” will take effect from April 9.

Earlier on Thursday, China’s Ministry of Commerce criticised the US move, calling it “a typical act of unilateral bullying.” It urged Washington to resolve disputes through “fair and equal dialogue.”