“Put simply: if Trump’s prior 20% tariff hikes took a hammer to US-China trade, today’s actions are a bazooka,” said Jennifer Welch, chief geoeconomics analyst for Bloomberg Economics.
The US has hit China with the biggest-ever tariff hike on almost all Chinese products, bringing total levies to at least 54%, a move that could decimate Chinese shipments to the world’s largest economy.
The new 34% tariffs announced by President Donald Trump on Wednesday will add to the 20% tariffs that entered effect earlier this year, hitting most of the half a trillion dollars worth of goods Chinese firms exported to the US in 2024. The new tariffs will go into effect on April 9, he said during an event in the White House Rose Garden.
