'Typical unilateral bullying practice': China reacts to Trump's 34% tariff
What's the story
China has announced that it will impose reciprocal 34% tariffs on all imports from the United States starting April 10 after Donald Trump also imposed a 34% tariff on Chinese imports.
In a statement, China's Ministry of Commerce said the US's sweeping new tariff regime threatened the hard-won balance struck over years of international trade discussions.
"This practice of the US...seriously undermines China's legitimate rights and interests, and is a typical unilateral bullying practice," it said.
Export restrictions
China implements export controls on rare-earths
Along with the new tariffs, China also announced export controls on medium and heavy rare-earths, including samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium, and yttrium.
The move comes into effect immediately from April 4.
The Chinese government said the measures were aimed at better safeguarding national security and interests while fulfilling international obligations like non-proliferation.
Trade restrictions
China adds foreign entities to 'unreliable entity' list
Beijing has also put 11 foreign entities on its "unreliable entity" list, allowing authorities to take punitive actions against them.
It also imposed export controls on 16 American corporations and froze the ability of six US-linked companies to export to China.
"The purpose of the Chinese government's implementation of export controls on relevant items in accordance with the law is to better safeguard national security and interests, and to fulfil international obligations such as non-proliferation," the Commerce Ministry said.
Tariff escalation
Trump's tariffs on Chinese imports reach 54%
Since his return to power in January, Trump has already imposed two tranches of 10% additional duties on all Chinese imports.
This brings the total new tariffs on Chinese imports to an unprecedented 54%.
Under Trump's new tariff structure, Chinese exporters will face a baseline tariff of 10% on almost all goods shipped to the US from Saturday.
The remaining "reciprocal tariffs" will kick in from April 9.
Compliance review
US Trade Representative reviews China's adherence to 2020 trade agreement
The newest round of tariff hikes comes amid a review by the US Trade Representative to see if China has kept its promises under the 2020 "Phase 1" trade deal.
Under the agreement, China was supposed to boost purchases of US exports by $200 billion over two years.
However, Beijing didn't meet its targets due to the effects of COVID-19 pandemic.