China retaliates against Trump with 34% tariff on US imports

China struck back against President Trump’s sweeping “Liberation Day” tariffs Friday by slapping the US with its own 34% tariff on imports and announcing curbs on some key rare materials — further heightening the trade war between Washington and Beijing.

The new double-digit tariff on imports of all US products will be imposed from April 10, China’s finance ministry said.

The move is in retaliation to Trump on Wednesday hitting China with a “reciprocal” 34% tariff on Chinese exports – on top of the 20% levy he imposed earlier this year.

As part of the flurry of retaliatory measures, Beijing also said it will impose more export controls from Friday on rare earths, which are materials used in high-tech products such as computer chips and electric vehicle batteries.

Included in the list of minerals subject to control was samarium and its compounds, which are used in aerospace manufacturing and the defense sector. Another element called gadolinium is used in MRI scans.

“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 fulfill international obligations such as non-proliferation,” the commerce ministry said.

China’s customs administration said it had also suspended imports of chicken from two US suppliers — Mountaire Farms of Delaware and Coastal Processing — saying officials had repeatedly detected furazolidone, a drug banned in China, in shipments from those companies.

The Chinese government also said it had added 27 firms to lists of companies subject to trade sanctions or export controls.

Among them, 16 are subject to a ban on the export of “dual-use” goods – including defense company, High Point Aerotechnologies, and transportation firm, Universal Logistics Holding.

Another 11 US firms were added, too, to an “unreliable entities” list, which allows Beijing to take punitive action against foreign entities.

The targeted companies include Skydio Inc. and BRINC Drones over arms sales to democratically governed Taiwan, which China claims as part of its territory.

“The United States’ imposition of so-called ‘reciprocal tariffs’ seriously violates [World Trade Organization] rules, seriously damages the legitimate rights and interests of WTO members, and seriously undermines the rules-based multilateral trading system and international economic and trade order,” the commerce ministry said.

“It is a typical unilateral bullying practice that endangers the stability of the global economic and trade order. China firmly opposes this.”

It comes after President Trump on Wednesday announced a 10% baseline tariff on all imports to the US, as well as higher duties on some of the country’s biggest trading partners — ranging from premium Italian coffee and Japanese whisky to sportswear made in Asia.

Trump, who argued the “reciprocal” tariffs were a response to duties and other non-tariff barriers put on US goods, would boost manufacturing jobs at home.

“This is one of the most important days, in my opinion, in American history. It’s our Declaration of Economic Independence,” the president said of the announcement.

In the aftermath, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was quick to warn countries not to react with knee-jerk retaliation.

“Everybody, sit back, take a deep breath, don’t immediately retaliate. Let’s see where this goes because if you retaliate, that’s how we get escalation,” Bessent told CNN.