The latest tariff announcement from US President Donald Trump has drawn severe countermeasures from several countries, with China taking the lead with a 34 per cent tariff on imports from the US. In the wake of the escalating trade war, Trump has urged Americans to ‘hang tough’.
China-US trade war: As US President Donald Trump doubled down on his sweeping tariffs on Saturday, he cautioned Americans about the times ahead, emphasising that it “won’t be easy”. Trump urged US citizens to ‘hang tough’, suggesting that the US is going through an ‘economic revolution’ with the end result slated to be ‘historic’. Trump’s remarks have come as countries across the world have responded to Trump’s latest tariffs with their countermeasures, with the Chinese decision to impose a 34 per cent tariff being the most prominent.
‘it won’t be easy’: Trump cautions Americans
In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote, “We have been the dumb and helpless ‘whipping post’, but not any longer. We are bringing back jobs and businesses like never before.”
“This is an economic revolution, and we will win. Hang tough; it won’t be easy, but the end result will be historic,” the Republican added.
Trump has doubled down on his commitment to tariffs, maintaining that his new levies will bring trillions of dollars of investment to the US while also criticising other countries’ retaliatory measures.
A 10 per cent baseline tariff kicked in just after midnight, impacting the majority of US imports with the exception of Canada and Mexico.
China retaliates with 34 per cent tariff
Earlier, China announced that it will impose a 34 per cent tax on all US imports next week, seen as a counter to US President Donald Trump’s new tariffs that delivered the strongest response yet from Beijing to the American leader’s trade war.
In his post on Truth Social, Trump said, “China has been hit much harder than the USA, not even close. They, and many other nations, have treated us unsustainably badly. We have been the dumb and helpless ‘whipping post,” but not any longer. We are bringing back jobs and businesses like never before.”
US market plunges following China’s announcement
The US stock market plunged Friday following China’s retaliatory moves as the S&P 500 fell 6%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 5.5%, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 5.8%.
Along with the newly imposed tariff on China, Trump has already slapped Beijing with two rounds of 10 per cent tariffs on Chinese goods in February and March.
(With inputs from AP)
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