Trade war escalates between China, US as Beijing's 125% tariffs take effect

ANKARA

The China-US trade war escalated as Beijing's 125% tariffs on imports from Washington officially took effect early Saturday.

China’s 125% tariffs on US imports took effect after the Trump administration raised tariffs to 145% on Chinese imports. However, Beijing has said it will no longer raise tariffs even if the US takes further steps.

The tariff war initiated by US President Donald Trump has rocked global markets. He has raised tariffs on Chinese goods to 145%, claiming Beijing was “abusing” trade practices with the US.

Tension further escalated between the two major powers following Trump's decision to pause tariffs on all countries for 90 days, except China.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has warned never to underestimate the strong resolve of the 1.4 billion Chinese people to defend their interests.

In a video statement, posted by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning on X, the Chinese president, apparently speaking at an event, said the Chinese people have never bullied, oppressed, or subjected the people of any other country, and never will.

"By the same token we will never allow any foreign force to bully, oppress or subjugate us," Xi said without naming the US or Trump, who started the trade war with Beijing.

However, Mao did not share the details of where President Xi was speaking.

"Anyone who would attempt to do so will find themselves on a collision course with a great wall of steel forged by over 1.4 billion Chinese people," Xi also said.

China has also filed a fresh lawsuit with the World Trade Organization against the Trump administration's latest tariff hikes, according to the country's Commerce Ministry.

On Friday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi accused Washington of blatantly putting its own interests above the common interests of all countries and ignoring the multilateral trading system and the established rules.

According to the US media, Trump is waiting for Xi to call, but the Chinese side has repeatedly refused to arrange a leader-level phone call.

However, Trump's team believes that the Chinese president does not want to be seen as weak by being the first one to reach out to the US for talks, CNN reported.