Trump responds to China with tariffs of up to 104% for Beijing's retaliation.

His hand is unwavering. The tariff war launched by Donald Trump against the world seems to know no bounds. The US government announced Tuesday afternoon an unprecedented increase in tariffs on China, which will rise to 104%, effective immediately at midnight tonight.

The decision was announced by the White House to Fox Business, and later confirmed by White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt. From Washington  They justify the announcement as a response to China's retaliation. All of this came on the same afternoon—morning in the US—that Trump himself stated that China is "desperately" seeking to reach a tariff agreement with Washington but "doesn't know how." 

As of April 8, Trump's announced tariffs on China were 34%, just as he announced on April 2 with his now historic "poster" of tariffs that included almost every country in the world , on what the magnate dubbed "US Liberation Day."

In response, China counterattacked last Friday by imposing 34% tariffs on US imports. This came after warning Trump that China "will go all the way in this trade war," despite Beijing's assurances that "there are no winners in a trade war, nor is there any way out of protectionism" and that "pressure and threats are not the right way to deal with China."

This move by Beijing was in turn responded to by Trump, who announced that if Xi Jinping did not reverse his tariffs, he would respond with another 50% increase on the same number of Chinese products. A warning that was finally delivered around 7:00 PM this Tuesday.

This threat by the US government was harshly criticized by the Xi Jinping regime, which on Tuesday expressed its "firm condemnation" of the "blackmailing nature" of the US and justified its tariffs on US products as "completely legitimate" measures that "aim to protect its sovereignty, security and development interests," as well as "maintain a normal international trade order." 

Finally, the statement asserted that "if the United States continues to pursue this path, China will fight to the bitter end." It remains to be seen whether China will respond in kind to the US, which has already resulted in a full-blown trade war declaration by Donald Trump.

Source: huffingtonpost.es