President Donald Trump is set to impose an additional 84% in levies across all Chinese imports on Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced on Tuesday. That will mean all goods from the country are subject to a tariff of at least 104%.
China was already set to see tariffs increase by 34% on Wednesday as part of Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs package. But the president tacked on another 50% after Beijing didn’t back off its promise to impose 34% retaliatory tariffs on US goods by noon Tuesday.
“Countries like China, who have chosen to retaliate and try to double down on their mistreatment of American workers, are making a mistake,” Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday. “President Trump has a spine of steel, and he will not break.”
“The Chinese want to make a deal, they just don’t know how to do it,” she added. She declined to share what, if any, terms Trump would consider to lower tariffs on China.
China was America’s second largest source of imports last year, shipping a total of $439 billion worth of goods to the US, while the US exported $144 billion worth of goods to China. The mutual tariffs threaten to hurt domestic industries and are poised to result in layoffs.
Dozens of other countries as well as the European Union also face a midnight deadline for new tariff rates. Those rates, which Trump laid out last week, range from 11% to 50%.
Leavitt told reporters that despite several conversations with world leaders aiming to negotiate lower tariff rates, Trump has little appetite to delay his plans.
Having spoken with Trump earlier on Tuesday, Leavitt said, “He expects that these tariffs are going to go into effect.” (CNN)