Tariffs on China Will Eclipse 100 Percent, White House Says

China is not taking kindly to Donald Trump‘s trade war. The president is not taking kindly to China not taking kindly to his tariffs, and the White House announced on Tuesday that imports from China will now be slapped with a whopping 104-percent tax.

“When America is punched [Trump] punches back harder,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday. “That’s why there will be 104-percent tariffs going into effect on China tonight at midnight. The president believes that [President] Xi and China want to make a deal. They just don’t know how to get that started.”

It really doesn’t seem like China wants to make a deal, though.

The sweeping tariff package Trump announced last week included a 34-percent tariff on Chinese goods, which come on top of 20-percent tariffs Trump imposed earlier this year. China responded by leveling its own 34 percent reciprocal tariff on American imports in retaliation for what the nation this week called “completely groundless and is a typical unilateral bullying practice,” from the U.S. 

“The countermeasures China has taken are aimed at safeguarding its sovereignty, security, and development interests, and maintaining the normal international trade order. They are completely legitimate,” the Chinese Commerce Ministry said on Tuesday, per the Associated Press. “The U.S. threat to escalate tariffs on China is a mistake on top of a mistake and once again exposes the blackmailing nature of the U.S. China will never accept this. If the U.S. insists on its own way, China will fight to the end.”

On Monday morning, Trump threatened to level additional, even more punitive measures against China should they refuse to repeal their own retaliatory tariffs. “If China does not withdraw its 34% increase above their already long term trading abuses by tomorrow, April 8th, 2025, the United States will impose ADDITIONAL Tariffs on China of 50%, effective April 9th,” the president wrote on Truth Social. “Additionally, all talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us will be terminated! Negotiations with other countries, which have also requested meetings, will begin taking place immediately.” 

China missed the deadline, which means the combined total of penalties imposed on goods from America’s third-largest trading partner will stand at 104 percent at midnight on Tuesday.

As domestic and international markets fluctuate wildly in response to Trump’s erratic economic agenda, even Republicans are getting anxious that the president may be about to send the global economy off of a cliff — and cost them all that political power they just won in November. 

According to a Tuesday report from Politico, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent flew to Florida over the weekend to plead with the president to recalibrate his tariff messaging strategy to one of deal negotiation rather than haphazard steamrolling. 

Regardless of any change in the president’s rhetoric, the White House is making clear that there are no plans to pause the tariff rollout. It’s full steam ahead, and Americans will literally pay the price.