US President Donald Trump’s punishing tariffs on dozens of economies came in force on Wednesday, April 8, including over 100% in levies against Chinese goods, dramatically ramping up a devastating global trade war. US tariffs on Chinese imports would reach 104%, the White House confirmed on Tuesday, as Washington doubles down on planned action after Beijing vowed a “fight to the end” on levies.
US President Donald Trump had vowed a further 50% tariff on goods from China on Monday if Beijing did not retract upcoming retaliation – and the White House confirmed that Trump will proceed with this action. The new taxes will be on top of the 20% tariffs announced as punishment for fentanyl trafficking and the separate 34% tariffs announced last week, taking the overall added duties this year to 104%.
China blasted what it called US blackmail and vowed to “fight it to the end,” a commerce ministry spokesperson said.
The US president insisted that the ball was in China’s court because Beijing “wants to make a deal, badly, but they don’t know how to get it started.” “We are waiting for their call. It will happen!” he wrote on social media on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Trump said Tuesday that his government was working on “tailored deals” with trading partners, with the White House saying it would prioritize allies like Japan and South Korea. Trump told a dinner with fellow Republicans on Tuesday night that countries were “dying” to make a deal. “I’m telling you, these countries are calling us up kissing my ass,” he said. Trump said Tuesday the United States was “taking in almost $2 billion a day” from tariffs.
Stock swings
Meanwhile, the US stock market is careening through a second straight day of stunning swings. After roaring to an early jump of 4.1%, which had it on track for its best day in years, the S&P 500 quickly lost all of it within a few hours. It then waffled between modest gains and losses before scratching out a rise of 0.4% in afternoon trading.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 300 points, or 0.8%, after giving up most of its earlier surge of 1,460 points, while the Nasdaq composite was 0.2% higher, as of 1:45 pm Eastern time.
Asian shares sank again on Wednesday as the latest set of US tariffs was due to take effect. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index initially lost nearly 4% and markets in South Korea, New Zealand and Australia also declined.
Stocks globally had rallied much more earlier in the day, with indexes up 6% in Tokyo, 2.5% in Paris and 1.6% in Shanghai. But even after those jumps, analysts had been warning to expect more swings up and down for financial markets not just in the days ahead but also the hours.
The EU – which Trump has criticized bitterly over its tariff regime – may unveil its response next week to the 20% levies it is facing under Trump. French President Emmanuel Macron called on the defiant US president to reconsider, adding if the EU was forced to respond “so be it.” “France and Europe never wanted chaos,” he said.
The US president has ruled out any pause in his aggressive stance, despite retaliatory action from China and signs of criticism from within his Republican Party.
