New York/Hong Kong — In a dramatic escalation of trade tensions, President Donald Trump will impose sweeping 104% tariffs on all Chinese imports beginning Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced Tuesday. The move builds on pre-existing tariffs and comes during heightened strain between Washington and Beijing.
Originally, China was bracing for a 34% tariff hike as part of Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs policy. However, after Beijing reaffirmed its plans to impose matching 34% retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods by noon Tuesday, Trump responded by slapping an additional 50% levy on Chinese imports—raising the total to a staggering 104%.
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China’s Commerce Ministry reacted strongly, condemning the additional duties as “a mistake upon a mistake,” and vowed to escalate its own retaliation against American exports.
The announcement rattled financial markets. U.S. stocks, which had opened higher on Tuesday, reversed course following Leavitt’s remarks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 320 points, or 0.84%. The S&P 500 dropped 1.57%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite tumbled 2.15%.
“Countries like China, who have chosen to retaliate and double down on their mistreatment of American workers, are making a mistake,” Leavitt told reporters. “President Trump has a spine of steel, and he will not break.”
Asian Markets Slide as Trump Triples Tariffs on Low-Cost Chinese Imports
Asian markets mirrored Wall Street’s sharp declines on Wednesday, as investors reacted to the latest escalation in U.S.-China trade tensions. Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped roughly 3% at the open, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index also sank 3%. South Korea’s KOSPI and Australia’s ASX 200 both slipped around 1%.
Adding to market jitters, President Donald Trump signed an executive order late Tuesday tripling tariffs on Chinese goods valued under $800—a major shift from the long-standing “de minimis” exemption that had previously allowed such shipments to enter the U.S. duty-free.
Originally set to face a 30% tariff starting May 2, those low-cost goods will now be hit with a 90% tariff under the revised order. The move is expected to significantly affect American consumers who shop on platforms like Shein, Temu, and AliExpress, potentially driving up prices on a wide range of products.
The latest measures build on Trump’s earlier actions. In February, he imposed a blanket 10% tariff on all Chinese imports, citing the country’s alleged role in facilitating illegal immigration and the flow of fentanyl into the United States. That rate was doubled last month—and now, with Tuesday’s announcement, the tariffs have reached unprecedented levels.
Last year, China was the U.S.’s second-largest source of imports, sending $439 billion worth of goods across the Pacific. The U.S. exported $144 billion in goods to China. As tit-for-tat tariffs continue to escalate, economists warn that both economies may suffer—particularly U.S. industries that rely on Chinese components, with potential job losses on the horizon.
At the end of Trump’s first term, the average U.S. tariff on Chinese goods stood at 19.3%, according to the Peterson Institute for International Economics. The Biden administration largely maintained those tariffs and added more, pushing the average to 20.8%. Trump’s latest actions push that average dramatically higher, signaling a new phase in the economic standoff.
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