Capping a day dominated by a back-and-forth between the US and China, Donald Trump on Wednesday made two major announcements on tariffs, giving all other countries a breather but doubling down on his tough stance on Beijing.
After the US raised tariffs on China to 104%, Beijing retaliated, announcing that it will impose a levy of 84% on US imports, up from 34%, marking a significant escalation of the tariff trade war between the countries.
The US counter-strike was swift, and brutal.
Taking to his social media platform TruthSocial, the US president announced that he was raising tariffs on China even further- to 125% – effective immediately.
“At some point, hopefully in the near future, China will realise that the days of ripping off the USA, and other countries, is no longer sustainable or acceptable,” Trump wrote.
For other countries, though, the billionaire also appeared to apply a salve on tariff wounds, announcing a 90-day pause on tariffs over the baseline, universal rate of 10%.