Updated April 08, 2025 at 02:20 AM ET
BEIJING — China said on Tuesday it will not back down in the face of President Trump's fresh threat to impose an additional 50% tariff on Chinese imports, as the trade war between the world's top two economies looked set to worsen.
Trump said on Truth Social he would impose the new tariffs on China if Beijing did not retract a 34% retaliatory tariff on U.S. goods that it announced in response to Trump's initial salvo last Wednesday.
In a strongly worded statement, China's commerce ministry said the country "will resolutely take countermeasures to safeguard its rights and interests."
"The U.S. tariff escalation threat against China compounds its mistake and further exposes its nature of blackmail, which China will never accept," the statement said. "China will fight till the end if the U.S. side is bent on going down the wrong path."
Global equity markets have been pummeled as recession fears have grown following Trump's "Liberation Day" announcement of tariffs that affect most countries across the world and most U.S. imports.
On Tuesday, however, Asian stocks took a breather, after heavy losses on Monday. Key indexes in Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea were up. In China stocks rose, too, amid reports that state-backed investors known as "the national team" were on a buying spree to prop up the market.
If Trump follows through, the U.S. will have hit Chinese imports this year with combined tariffs of 104%. Trump imposed 20% in tariffs in the first weeks of his presidency, and then an additional 34% on Wednesday.
According to the office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the U.S. imported $438.9 billion in goods from China last year, up 2.8% from 2023.
Gabriel Wildau, a managing director at the consultancy Teneo, said he expects Beijing to "hunker down for a protracted economic war of attrition."
"This strategy of patient resistance is based on a conviction that seven years of efforts to reduce reliance on the U.S. has rendered China economically resilient to the trade war now underway," Wildau wrote in a note. "China's leaders believe that over the long term, Trump is ill-equipped to withstand the political pressure that his tariff policies will generate."
China stands out in Asia for its willingness to go-toe to-toe with the United States. Leaders from other countries have decried the tariffs, but avoided retaliation and leaned into the possibility of negotiations with Washington.
Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te said on Monday Taiwan "has no plans to adopt retaliatory tariffs." He said Taiwan would seek to purchase more American products and lower non-tariff barriers.
Hong Kong, which is part of China but considered a different trade jurisdiction, has not followed Beijing's lead with tariffs on U.S. goods. Major U.S. trading partners India, Japan and South Korea have also refrained from retaliatory measures.
Vietnam, which is being hit by one of the highest tariff rates, 46%, named a deputy prime minister as special envoy and sent him to the U.S. this week for talks. Hanoi has called for a delay in the implementation of tariffs, which are set to kick in on Wednesday, pending negotiations.
This story has been updated to reflect official translations.
Aowen Cao contributed to this report.
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