China announced on Friday that it will raise tariffs on all United States goods from 84% to 125% starting April 12, reported Bloomberg.

This came after the White House on Thursday hiked levies on Chinese imports to 145%.

The move marks a sharp escalation in trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies and threatens to further disrupt global supply chains.

Beijing’s decision came after the United States singled China out for an additional tariff increase, despite pausing most reciprocal duties on dozens of other countries.

“The US imposition of abnormally high tariffs on China seriously violates international and economic trade rules, basic economic laws and common sense and is completely unilateral bullying and coercion,” China’s finance ministry said in a statement, according to Reuters.

Beijing also said it plans to ignore any further tariff increases announced by Washington, describing the Trump administration’s moves as a “joke”.

“Given that American goods are no longer marketable in China under the current tariff rates, if the US further raises tariffs on Chinese exports, China will disregard such measures,” the statement added.

In a separate release, China’s commerce ministry said: “It’s become a joke.”

It described Washington’s repeated use of excessively high tariffs as a numbers game with no economic rationale, and as further evidence of the United States using trade measures for “bullying and coercion”.

The ministry also warned that China would “resolutely counterattack and fight to the end” if the United States continues to infringe on its rights and interests. It added that Washington should take full responsibility for the damage caused by the tariffs.

The standoff has begun to move beyond tariffs. Chinese authorities on Thursday moved to reduce the number of American films allowed in Chinese cinemas. On Wednesday, officials also warned citizens against travelling to the United States and advised students about security risks linked to studying in “certain US states”.

Before 2025, the average import duties each country charged the other remained below 20%, even at the height of the earlier US-China trade war during Donald Trump’s previous term.

Nearly 700 billion dollars worth of goods are exchanged between the two nations each year. Without a deal to deescalate tensions, the latest hikes are expected to raise prices for businesses and consumers in both countries as companies reassess supply chains to reduce tariff exposure.

Last year, the biggest United States imports from China included smartphones, laptops and lithium-ion batteries. Among the most valuable US exports to China were liquid petroleum gas, oil, soybeans, gas turbines and semiconductor-making machines.

Trump on Wednesday increased tariffs on China by 125%, while reducing the duties on imports from other countries to 10% for 90 days, to provide time for trade negotiations.

The US President cited the “lack of respect” Beijing had shown to the global markets for further increasing tariffs on imports from China.

Also read: