China announced on Wednesday it will raise tariffs on imports from the United States to 84 percent—up from 34 percent—in response to a fresh wave of duties imposed by Washington earlier in the day.
The move comes after U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest round of sweeping tariffs took effect, targeting numerous trade partners and slapping punitive duties of up to 104 percent on a range of Chinese products.
Beijing, which has consistently condemned such measures, warned it would take “firm and forceful” action to safeguard its interests. Hours later, China’s Ministry of Finance confirmed that additional tariffs on U.S.-origin goods would rise to 84 percent starting from 12:01 p.m. Thursday.
“The U.S. escalation of tariffs against China only compounds previous mistakes and constitutes a serious violation of China’s legitimate rights and interests,” the ministry said in a statement. It also accused Washington of inflicting “severe damage on the multilateral rules-based trading system.”
In a separate announcement, China’s Ministry of Commerce revealed it would place six U.S. artificial intelligence companies on a trade blacklist. The companies, including Shield AI Inc. and Sierra Nevada Corp., were sanctioned for allegedly supplying weapons to Taiwan or engaging in military technology cooperation with the island.
The latest escalation marks a sharp deterioration in trade relations between the world’s two largest economies, with broader implications for global commerce, supply chains, and geopolitical stability.