China slaps whopping tariff on all US goods

Beijing has forcefully hit back at steep new US tariffs but Donald Trump has mocked the move as China “playing it wrong”.

Donald Trump has accused China of “panicking” and “playing it wrong” after Beijing walloped the US with 34 per cent tariffs in retaliation.

China said on Friday it would impose tariffs on all imports of US goods from April 10 after Washington imposed 34 per cent levies on Chinese products.

Beijing said the US tariffs were “typical unilateral bullying” behaviour.

“For all imported goods originating from the US, an additional tariff of 34 per cent on top of the current applicable tariff rate will be imposed,” Beijing’s finance ministry said.

Beijing’s Commerce Ministry also imposed export controls on seven rare earth elements, including gadolinium – commonly used in magnetic resonance imaging – and yttrium, which is used in consumer electronics.

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

China will also file a lawsuit with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over tariffs, the ministry said.

People walk out of Apple's flagship store on April 4, 2025 at a mall in the Sanlitun area in Beijing, China. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

US President Donald Trump ignited a potentially ruinous global trade war this week by imposing 10 per cent levies on imports from around the world and harsh extra duties on key trading partners.

Trump unveiled particularly stinging tariffs of 34 per cent on China, one of its largest trading partners, on top of existing levies.

China swiftly vowed “countermeasures” to protect its rights and interests.

President Donald Trump departs the Trump International Golf Club, Friday, April 4, 2025, in West Palm Beach, Florida. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Trump: China ‘played it wrong’

Shortly after the news of Beijing’s retaliation, Mr Trump on social media mocked China’s move,

“China played it wrong, they panicked,” he wrote on social media.

“The one thing they cannot afford to do!”

As yet, it’s not clear if the US intends to react in any other way to China’s tariffs.

Overview of workers at a footwear factory in Ho Chi Minh City.

Trump, Vietnam have ‘very productive call’

Another Asian nation that has been stung even harder than China is Vietnam.

On Friday, its leader held a conversation with US President Trump after it saw tariffs levelled on it of 46 per cent.

Vietnam exports electronics, like phones, clothes and footwear to the US among other goods.

The South East Asian nation took advantage of its location and cheap skilled labour to position itself as an alternative manufacturing hub to China during a trade war between Beijing and Washington in Mr Trump’s first term.

Many companies shifted parts of their supply chain, and Vietnam’s trade surplus with the United States doubled between 2017 and 2023.

Nike makes half its shoes in Vietnam and Nintendo makes many of its consoles in the South East Asian nation.

A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange April 4, 2025, in New York. (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP)

Hanoi is desperate to get some relief from the tariffs which could decimate its trade to America.

“Just had a very productive call with To Lam, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, who told me that Vietnam wants to cut their Tariffs down to ZERO if they are able to make an agreement with the US,” Mr Trump wrote on social media.

“I thanked him on behalf of our Country, and said I look forward to a meeting in the near future.”

That phone conversation saw the share prices of apparel manufactures Nike and Gap, among others, recover slightly on Friday — but not to where they were prior to Wednesday’s tariff announcement.

Some analysts have said there remains a hope among manufacturers that Mr Trump’s tariffs are a negotiating tool which may see them reduced or removed altogether if a deal can be done. However some in the White House are saying tariffs are the new normal – so investors remain wary.